Ask Me About 80's Tunes

On turning 51. And why it's a good time to make a list.

Photo by Namroud Gorguis for Unsplash.

I’ve said it before: I like lists. I like to fix and control what I can, to create order out of chaos. Sometimes when there’s no real need for a list, I’ll make one anyway, just to see short vertical lines on a scrap pad. The relief of this, unlike my horizontal novel-in-progress (or looming grant applications).

When I’m feeling very clever, I’ll organize shopping lists by grocery aisles: fruit, dairy, meat. A map-list. I like maps too. Again—order. Visual help for my brain. A way to organize the sometimes-overwhelming spaces around me, like supermarkets in the Berkshires on summer weekends.

Here’s what I wrote yesterday:

1. Onions

2. Muckie cabbage*

3. Tuna fish

4. Bank

5. Library

6. Birthday?

Then I got distracted.

I turned 50 last year. I printed invitations, asked for cupcakes, wore a long green dress, toasted with f…