[pct-l] music while hiking

[Marion Davison]

I am a singer/musician, so I always have an ear worm going.  (A song 
stuck in my head, that changes unconsciously through word association or 
some other memory stimulus). (At this moment it is "Fletch") On the 
trail the ear worm can get really loud and pervasive because of the 
repetitive nature of hiking.  So I deliberately manage the ear worm, for 
example, trying to sing through an entire album from memory.  When I am 
fearful (scary exposure on a trail or an oncoming storm) I sing praise 
songs out loud, really loud, to bolster my faith and confidence.
I have never taken a music device on the trail, because I would be 
saying "huh?" to my significant other every time he tried to talk to me, 
and it would get really annoying for him.  I know enough songs from 
memory to manage to entertain myself.
I also enjoy writing new lyrics to songs to fit the day on the trail, 
and work on refining these lyrics for days.
My typical summer trek lasts a month.  I don't know how I would handle 
the withdrawals of being without an instrument to play or music to hear 
for the length of a thru hike.
Marion