My Bucket List

Jo at A Majority of Two wrote a list of ten things she'd like to do before she leaves this Earth. I decided it was an intriguing idea, so here's mine. I'm calling it My Bucket List; as you may know from the movie of that title, it's the things you want to do before you Kick the Bucket.

This was not easy! It took me quite a while to write this list. I wondered: should I be reasonable and name the things that are actually possible? Or should I include off-the-wall dreamy things I know I won't really achieve? It can be hard to find where the line is between those two, depending on how Far Out I go. So... see what you think and if you can tell which are Pie in the Sky dreams and which are things I might really do. Here they are, in no particular order.

1) Learn to play the bassoon. I love the mellow, sometimes mournful, sometimes silly, happy, and frolicsome sound of the bassoon.

2) Visit these places in Europe:

[a] all of the United Kingdom. Both sets of grandparents originated there (Scotland, Ireland and England). I would love to see the places where they lived, played, worked, grew up.

[b] Czech Republic where I could meet my pen pal of almost 20 years. (OMG, is it really that long??? I can hardly believe it! Yet it is true!)

[c] Scandinavia. I love the terrain and the climate there, not to mention the good and happy life which the people and their governments have created for themselves. Hey, a little Socialism here and there apparently isn't all bad!

Scotland - photo by gumbo-something -

via image search at Yahoo

3) With my husband, take at least one (preferably more than one) travel/educational trip with Elderhostel. (I know they recently changed their name, but I can't remember what the new name is.)

4) Learn to machine quilt on a long-arm machine. I don't want to own or buy one. I just want to know how and to do it successfully (i.e., not ugly). I don't expect or demand great artisanship out of myself on this one. Functional is my goal.

5) Be a grandma. Learn from my mistakes as a mom and be a really good grandma. Live long enough to see them grow up and get married.

6) Leave a large donation to some worthy cause... large enough to make a real difference. An endowment that will continue to fund itself for a hefty scholarship. A donation that could build a school, or save a school. Build a library. Help women around the world go to school and improve their lives and their children's lives. Fund a job-training and employment program that works! [Is any of this too much to ask??]

7) Live for a year or two in an Alaskan or Northwest Territory Indian village which lives on a subsistence basis.

8) Visit Panama with my sisters. All three of us were born there, and two of us have never been back.

Panama Canal, photo by my niece, RPS

9) Win a photography competition.

10) Live in Grand Marais, Minnesota from May to October.

Lake Superior, not far from Grand Marais. Photo by me.