Bucket List

Over the past several weeks, I began to think about my advancing age and the things that I still want to do and the things that I’ve done. Looking back, I can see more clearly the things that I’ve not been able to do yet. In today’s lingo, that is called a bucket list. I believe I understand how it got its name. When I was much younger, I had a mental list of what I wanted to do before I died. One phrase to describe dying was to say “kick the bucket.” I wonder, is this where the term “bucket list” comes from?

I remember as a child I was drawn to the continent of Africa. I wanted to see the elephants, rhinoceros, zebras, and lions. As close as I ever came to this desire was to visit zoos in Chicago and in Pittsburgh. It isn’t the same, but I believe that it is as close as I’ll get to actually visit Africa. If I sit in a seat for a long of a period of time my lower legs become cramped, edematous, and my sciatic nerve will cause leg numbness. I’d not be able to enjoy the excursion.

One thing that I’ve been able to accomplish is to write and to have someone actually read the words I’ve written. To have someone enjoy the books I’ve had published and to have people read and comment about the ideas I share in my BlogSpot was one item in my bucket list. One thing I haven’t yet done with my writing is to have a poem set to music as a hymn. I’m trying to get a musically inclined friend to help me do that.

I’ve been slowly going through my belongings and to get rid of things that are no longer useful. I’m not a hoarder, but I don’t want to leave meaningless bits of flotsam and jetsam for my kids to sort after I’m gone. I’m also trying to get my finances in order. The money under my mattress isn’t a fortune, but I am trying to find ways to pass it on to my children without the government taxing the money for a second time. The government must like the Captain and Tennille’s lyrics, “Once is never enough.”

I imagine that I don’t have a lot of years left to get my bucket in gear and to try to empty my bucket list before I kick the bucket.