One of the more mundane tasks in life is compiling a list of items to remember to buy at the store. Even Michelangelo had to do this, and as his designated shopper did not know how to read, he also had to illustrate this.
On successive days he needed bread, wine, herrings, anchovies, fennel soup and tortellini. Each day was not a very long list, but I guess the shopper could not be trusted to remember the few items that were requested.
This is my shopping list, which I keep on the kitchen counter next to Gumby and Pokey (stars of stop-motion animation from the 50’s and 60’s). Much like Michelangelo’s assistant, I have a memory like a sieve, so if I don’t write it down the moment I think of it, it’s gone and I forget to buy it. And of course we both like anchovies.
When I was shopping recently I found a discarded or forgotten list in my shopping cart (trolley). The list was written on a pink post-it note. The list was: cat food, dog food, bird seed and tampons, obviously the list of a younger Earth Mother. These lists offer a glimpse of the little things that fill our lives.
And I definitely need to add wine to my list.
Very interesting about Michelangelo’s illustrated shopping lists. I’m glad I don’t have to do that! And I have to write things down immediately too – at my age not surprising, but I think I also had to do it when I was as young as you are.
I love it that you have Gumby and Pokey.
Other people’s shopping lists are revealing, aren’t they?