Oct 22 2008
Bucket List
My grandmother used to call these Five Year Plans. (And I bet she didn’t even “get” the Socialist connotations of that title.) Then there have been the proliferation of books outlining “XXX to do/eat/try/buy Before You Die”. I’ve got two of them Books to Read Before You Die and Places to See Before You Die. (I recommend the latter, but not the former.) But since the Morgan Freeman movie, everyone’s calling these “Bucket Lists”. So here’s mine. Problem is: I’m adding to it faster than I can cross things off! If you’ve got a Bucket List, I’d love to see it. Drop me a line.
- Learn to play the guitar I bought with my babysitting money when I was 15
- Gather at least 70% of my meals from my own organic garden for at least one 8-month period
- Eat on the 100 Mile Diet for one year.
- Can and preserve fruit from my own orchard
- Reduce my carbon footprint
- Spend a week on a dude ranch
- Become proficient in simple conversational Spanish
- Become proficient in conversational Mandarin
- Wear a size 4 again
- Travel to India, Laos and Vietnam
- See Haiga Sophia in Turkey
- Retrace the path of Chief Joseph’s retreat — preferably on horseback
- Follow the Long Walk of the Navajos — preferably with a Navajo
- Learn to ride my Vespa
- Take a winemaking course at UC Davis
- Trek through the Outback and camp at Uluru (Ayers Rock)
- Successfully cook one recipe from the French Laundry Cookbook
- Go on safari in Africa (with a camera)
- Take my 12th road trip across America — but this time by the Northern route.
- See wolves in Yellowstone Park
- Keep chickens
- Make a kick-ass Cabernet
- Take our place in Sonoma completely off the grid
- Master composting
- Travel the length of the Nile
- See the terra cotta warriers in China
- Make a difference in a child’s life
- Learn not to sweat the small stuff
PEDDLING AS FAST AS I CAN (PARTIALLY DONE)
- Nurture an organic garden
- Master photography and Andy’s Nikon D80
Slogging through my second photography class at Community College of San Francisco.
- Complete a walking marathon (I know my limits!)
Completed the Las Vegas 2008 Marathon. The Half. Walking! Read about it here.
MISSION ACCOMPLISHED
- Attend the Olympics
DONE! See my posts on the 2008 Olympics in Beijing. Now I’ve got my sights on Vancouver.
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On travelling to Laos - go!
It is truly the most amazing, challenging place. It is the closest thing you may see to being in another world, and well worth the effort to travel there!
Writing a list like this is a great exercise in figuring out one’s priorities and deciding where one’s heading in life. I’ve never been brave enough to publish mine though - probably too worried of everyone noticing when I don’t achieve the things on there!
Good luck