CL

One of the more entertaining aspects of writing a daily blog is crafting the titles.  I try to be provocative or witty, and then I wait to hear the reactions from my readers.  One blog, which I called “Loving Lenny,” created quite a stir.  It was written about my longtime admiration for the legendary conductor Leonard Bernstein.  To the residents who work in my husband’s department, however, Lenny means only one person: the chief of their service.  Unlike Kristen Stewart, I was not canoodling with the boss.

Normally my titles are coined once the blog is completed.  Today, however, I am using a title I targeted days ago.  As I got started, I realized that these letters could have a variety of meanings.  Most obviously, CL (spelled more correctly ‘Cl’) represents ‘Chlorine,’ an element with an atomic weight of 17.  Although I could elaborate on bottled chlorine and its roll in my life, (having grown up in Florida with a swimming pool in the backyard, that acrid odor is permanently imprinted on my brain), this blog is not about the stinky, turn-your-hair-green substance.

Nor is it about industrial giant Colgate-Palmolive, a mega-corporation that trades under the letters ‘CL’ on the New York Stock Exchange.  Personally, I would have gone with COPA or CPAL, but I suppose the CL label predates a massive corporate merger.

I have also learned that ‘.cl’ is the top-level domain for Chile and Easter Island.  I did a report on Easter Island in tenth grade.  Since then I have always wished for an occasion to visit in order to stand next to the massive and mysterious statues that are dotted across its landscape.  I can foresee no occasion when this goal will be fulfilled.  It will have to remain on the back burner where it has been for the past forty years.

What CL is, is the Roman numeral for the number 150.  I cannot remember when I first learned Roman numerals.  It is one of those things that used to be part of a classical elementary education, along with such obsolete disciplines a slide rules and penmanship.  Roman numerals were fun; I remember trying to speak in them colloquially.  I used to say, “I was born in MDCCCCLVIII.”   It is really hard to find any practical use for them in modern life.  I suppose the process of learning to build a number in Roman numerals is intellectually similar to making change with the available bills of US currency.  You have limited building blocks with which to construct a given amount in the most efficient manner.  The only time I have seen Roman numerals in use is for copyrights—particularly at the end of films and television shows.

Today is the first of the last 150 blogs in my blog-a-day challenge.  It is a leap year; I have completed 216 blogs to date.  After a rough patch, I am beginning to be energized by the rapidly diminishing task ahead.  Early on, the magnitude of this undertaking seemed daunting.  It reminded me of when I was admitted to college, joining the class of 1980 when it was still early in 1976.  1980 seemed an eternity away.  Because it was a new decade it felt more distant then just four years.  Alas, they melted away too quickly.  Before I knew it, I was desperately trying to hold on to the fleeting months—like trying to “keep a wave upon the sand.”  

I fear that as I post my last blog on New Year's Eve I will have said all I have to say.  With any luck, however, I will finally have the discipline to focus on a couple of novels that I have been itching to write.   Fiction will bring a new set of challenges.  I am hopeful that telling my stories has helped me to refine my voice.   I also have a lot of other things I am anxious to do.  I dream of sleeping past 6am.  And of spending a few hours a day at a different sort of keyboard.