My Bucket List

There’s a new movie out, with Morgan Freeman and Jack Nicholson, called “The Bucket List”. In it, two elderly men make a list of all the things they want to do before they “kick the bucket”. I don’t like the fact that I’m identifying with elderly men, but lately I’ve been thinking of my own bucket list.

Some of these are pretty mundane. Some of these are downright dangerous. A few are ludicrous. A few are sublime. And most I probably won’t get to do. But what the heck; at least I’ve made a list. These are not in any particular order of precedence or importance. It’s just the raw list.

1. See the sunset in the midst of a tropical sea. I don’t want to do it alone. I don’t want to do it on a cruise ship with five thousand other people. I just want to do it, with friends and an experienced captain, a sail boat and a very good radio.

2. Fly in an F-16. Or maybe an F-18. I’m not particular. I just want to get in the backseat of a very, very fast aircraft and ride along as the pilot winds it out to maximum.

3. Learn how to use a very good telescope.

4. Write my father’s story.

5. Return to Yosemite.

6. Build a Swiss Family Robinson treehouse…and live in it.

7. Meet a Swiss person named Robinson.

8. Step into Nelson’s cabin on HMS Victory (without batting my eyelashes at the sailor/tourguide, Trish!)

9. Fly on Virgin’s commercial space shuttle.

10. Not have to take immuno-suppressant steroids anymore…without having to lose my grafted kidney or die to do it.

11. See another Major League No-Hitter. (I’ve seen TWO…with WITNESSES: Derek Lowe’s at Fenway, and The Big Unit’s Perfect Game at Turner Field.)

12. Do one good thing that will be remembered.

13. Try one of those new Wendy’s fish sandwiches for lunch tomorrow.

14. Live to be 100.

There it is, my Bucket List. I wonder which of them I will do before I leave our present space/time continuum. I wonder if I will do any of them.

Okay, the fish sandwich is probably pretty certain. One down!