I turned 55 last week. I am totally OK with it and I’ve been singing that Tom Waits/Eagles/Sara MacLachlan song a lot. I mumble through most of the words, but always get the first line and chorus. In my head, I am perfect.
You know how, when you learn a new word, or come across a new idea, it suddenly seems to pop up everywhere? Fifty-five is like that.
Last week, I bookmarked my birthday by reading A Song for a Whale by Lynne Kelly. It’s about a deaf girl who is obsessed with helping a whale, Blue 55, who sings at a frequency different from all other whales: 55 Hertz. Coincidence? Totally, but it is fun to think about it. The book is based on a real whale, Blue 52. If I’d read this book the year I turned 52, it might not have registered the same way.
Somewhere this week, I heard 55 referred to as “double nickels”. Apparently it means 55 mph, but what’s heard cannot be unheard and my brain made another weirdo connection. After my birthday, I read The Nickel Boys by Colson Whitehead. Okay, that might be stretching it, but my brain loves to play with words and see connections where none exist.
Wishing you all a very happy 2020.
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