From the Editor

From the EditorHow Do We Love Thee? Let Us List the Ways

By Rosanne Dunkelberger, Editor

I am a sucker for lists.

Yes, I want to know VH1’s “100 Greatest One Hit Wonders.” Please, tell me which male stars have the best chests in Hollywood. What are the “1,000 Places to See Before You Die”?

Be it “American Top 40,” People magazine’s “50 Most Beautiful People,” “30 Dinners in 30 Days” or “101 Ways to Save,” if there’s a number and a roll call, I’m digging it.

There was a time when, as my personal universe hurtled toward entropy, I would buy any magazine with cover text that touted “(Put number here) Ways to Get Organized!”

I know I’m not alone. I think it’s a universal human impulse to impose some sort of order on the cosmos by lining things up and giving them a number.

With that in mind, we decided to conjure up a few (make that 25) lists specific to life in Tallahassee. Some are legit (our fair city’s most accident-prone corners, top baby names), while others are utterly whimsical and completely incomplete.

Don’t be sad – or mad – if your favorite Web site at work didn’t make our list. Part of the fun of looking through lists is figuring out the obvious things that were left off. So visit our Web site (hey, why didn’t we put that on the Web-site-at-work list?) at www.tallahasseemagazine.com and let us know what stores you think are overdue in Tallahassee. Or your favorite spot to take out-of-town guests. Or add your own list to the list!

This issue usually is the year’s largest because, if you look inside, you’ll find our magazine-within-a-magazine, Forgotten Coast. There were plenty of unspoiled beaches when I moved to Florida 35 years ago, but now some of the only naturally beautiful shorelines left in the state can be found in the three-county region covered by this annual publication.

But the beaches are only part of the reason I enjoy the Forgotten Coast. It’s a getaway you can do in a day – or stretch into a weekend that packs in a lot of fun without a lot of travel time. Using less than a tank of gas, you can travel to and from a natural place that is worlds away from the daily grind. The pace of life in the communities of Wakulla, Franklin and Gulf counties is less frantic, and I think just-caught seafood tastes better when it’s accompanied by surf, sand or a salty tang in the air.

Be sure to check out the story about what some local businesses are doing to keep their workers healthy. We also have a great feature on Paula and Angela Fortunas – a mother/daughter duo who have made fundraising the family business.

And finally, I’d like to give a shout-out to all the mamas and the papas out there during these months when we celebrate both. As I near the end of my days as a hands-on parent (my last child is a high school junior), I’ve been reflecting on my own experiences and appreciating my own mother more and more.

Anyone who knows me has heard this one before: I have enjoyed my children through every stage of their lives – but I wouldn’t want to do it again.