Doing a "Bucket List" in Phoenix, Arizona


As I drift into my senior years, I meet more and more people who have suddenly realized that they won't live forever, and the things that they've always meant to do, but never got around to, can slip away forever, because, well, they will die. Someday, probably sooner than they'd thought.

If you're like most people, that realization will never come to you, and you'll not only be lucky, you'll be puzzled about why some people are doing what they're doing. What's the hurry? Why not plan that for next week, or next year? There's plenty of time!

Speaking for myself, my realization that I probably wouldn't live forever happened seventeen years ago, about a month after they dragged my carcass out of Intensive Care, and I said to myself, "Now what?"

The movie "The Bucket List", which came out in 2007, really affected me. If you haven't seen it, it's about a couple of guys who decide to do a lot of cool and wonderful things before they "kick the bucket" (die). No, I'm not spoiling the movie here. Since then the term "bucket list" has become a very common expression for doing something, like visiting the Great Wall of China, before you die. You check things off your list, and then you die.

I suppose that if a bucket list will motivate you, it's a good thing. I don't have one, because I've always had a life list. When I was a kid I was curious about everything, and I just wandered off. I still do. And the idea of "checking something off a list" doesn't appeal to me, because it assumes that you can't do something again, and again. I can't count the number of times I've been to the Chuckbox, and when people ask me if I want to do again, I say "of course!"

There are so many things to see in this world, so many things to do, that I've always found it overwhelming. I have good friends who help me to stay organized, and on track, and if it's a "bucket list" for them, that's fine. I want to see everything, from the rolly-polly bugs that travel across my patio in the morning, to the mountains with the face of Montezuma.

My sense of urgency makes me fidgety. If I find myself sitting somewhere with nothing much to do, I wander off. I'm sorry, but if you ask me to stop and look at your list, I'll try to smile politely, and then wander off. Thank you for understanding.

Walk with me.
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