Bucket List - First Draft

Anything that requires strength or endurance is pretty much out of the question, at least for the near future. That doesn’t leave a lot. Clearly bucket lists should be started at a much earlier point in life. So if parasailing, scuba diving and zip line adventures are out of the question, what’s left?

I can’t help thinking about some of the things I regret not doing. I wish I had spent more time with kids and grandkids while I was healthier. I wish I had met my brother, Steve. I wish my husband and I were better travel companions. I wish I had gone to Italy and the British Isles. I wish I had seen Stonehenge. I wish I had visited out local community theatre. It seems a waste of time to focus on wishes and "might have been" things. A bucket list should be for things that are still possible. So, what is still possible? Here goes my first draft Bucket List in no particular order.

1) Watch my grandson, Douglas, play basketball

2) Meet my brother Steve who lives in South Carolina

3) Visit the Butchart Gardens in Victoria, Canada

4) Visit the Oregon Gardens

5) Camp at Silver Falls with the Siekman clan

6) Visit Rob and Kathy in Sierra Vista, Arizona

7) Watch the whales and dolphins from the beach at Kauai

8) Snorkel in warm tropical water

9) Take an Alaska cruise, see Denali, visit our friend Bob

10) Go to Carmel with my friend Ruth

11) Spend time at the ocean

12) Have a pumpkin carving day with granddaughter Lucy

13) Reunion with my California sibs

14) Laugh, talk and play with friends

15) Go to the beach every chance I get

Wow! Fifteen things. I thought I’d be lucky to come up with ten. Guess I’m more ambitious than I thought.

Last week end, my friend Kizzie and I went to Yachats and stayed one night at the Overleaf Hotel and resort. We walked on the beach and watched the surf and the sunset. Watching the water and hearing the soothing sounds of the ocean are calming and therapeutic for me. It was a blessing to have a brief “ocean fix” but it always ends too soon for me so going to the beach stays on the list.

The reunion with my California sibs is already scheduled for November so I am already putting the list to work.

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