The CD Shuffle

I may want to hold onto our 2011 Ford Fusion for as long as possible.  It has a CD player that holds six at a time, which allows me to be my own Sirius station.  I’ve burned 40-plus CDs over the years, and the thought of having to switch over to an iPod fills me with dread.

The thing is, every CD is organized around a theme or certain artists or bands; there’s a CD for every mood (of which I must have around 40).  I put three in last week, and, not only do I get the music I want, each CD comes with a creation memory.  The one that has Desmond Dekker and Johnny Rivers on it is so old it came from Napster.  That was a Father’s Day gift Clare gave me right after she graduated from eighth grade.  I played “Israelites” and “Secret Agent Man” for the first time on the way to a travel tournament in Wilmette.

The CD with the Doors, Canned Heat and Jefferson Airplane debuted on our drive to nationals in Kansas City, sophomore year of high school.  On the drive over, we had our own “Deliverance” moment in southwest Iowa; always be careful where you stop for gas.  We survived and were able to enjoy the coming-out party of the “Bambina,” who tied for first in the homerun-hitting contest.  Light My Fire, indeed.

“My 20^th CD,” as that one’s titled, was done in 2012, when Clare was again a sophomore, this time at Elmhurst.  Michele and I listened to Bruno Mars, Florence and the Machine and the Lumineers on our way to Davenport, Iowa, one February weekend to watch Clare and her Bluejays open the season in a dome, actually a repurposed indoor driving range; nothing is ever too good for women’s sports.  Anyway, I’d just had an infected tooth removed the day before and was walking around with a cartoon-sized swollen jaw.  Trust me, watching my daughter hit beat taking Vicodin.

And I’m supposed to give up these CDs in the name of progress?  Not yet.