10 Days In

    Here I am again, still contemplating what being 60 and semi-retired means to me. I think I have the semi-retired/work part dialed in. 2-3 days a week subbing and picking up an event every now and again keeps me happy and paid.  

    It's the down-time that has me perplexed. Certainly, I spent plenty of time mulling it over; Crushing the Candys and scrolling the Socials. I have read a couple of great books but you must check out Parable of the Sower by Octavia Butler, scary and fascinating-A real eye-opener. 

     Of course, I have gone through the usual list of suspects: Read more, cook more, learn the Mandolin, learn Scottish, hike more, ride my bike, craft. I'm feeling slightly more confident that I will be able to attain these goals over time. 

     I know I'm on the right track but there is this little voice, just barely audible under the din of all of the other voices in my head, asking about my bucket list. Not sure I ever made an actual bucket list per se. Where to start? 

     Most definitely trips to Scotland, Ireland, Alaska all fall in there somewhere. I would also like to take a road trip around the PNW and see some sites before they disappear (I'm looking at you, glaciers in Glacier National Park). Seeing the Grand Canyon would be a real treat too; so many memories there. I have always loved that park. 

     I used to want to skydive, not so sure about that one anymore but I did see a glider in a field on my way to the coast last week and it intrigued me. A glider flight may be on the list. I have heard it's so quiet and peaceful and at the same time exhilirating. Conflicting emotions? Irony? Just my cup of tea.

     I'd love an invitation to be a Disneyland Club 33 member, even for just one day. If any of you Club 33 members out there want to send an invite, I'd be eternally grateful. Literally, I would die happy and spend eternity being grateful for the day. I would prefer to hold off on the eternal part, at least for a little while but you know I'd still be grateful. 

     An up close and personal encounter with a whale, any kind of whale, would be on the list. Like eye to eye, Whale Rider style. I have always wanted this one and when I say always I mean since my earliest memories of even knowing about whales. Of course, this encounter would have to be on the whale's terms and not in some creepy, exploitive, marine mammal-killing confinement situation. A not so up close encounter with lions in Africa would be on there but I don't really want to fly to Tanzania or South Africa. A not so up close encounter with the Grizzly Bears of Katmai is definitely more in the obtainable range. I might actually work on getting there. 

     Something else on my list from the way-back machine is attend the Academy Awards, preferably as a voting member but I won't be too picky about this one. The original dream would be receiving an Oscar on stage but I feel I've missed that shot. To feel the energy of that room, live and in person, would be electric. 

Me, on the rim of Mt St Helens :)

     Climbing Denali used to be and old bucket list item of mine, when I was young-er. I never came close to the climb except in a fly-over of Denali Base Camp in a Bush Pilot's quick tour of the Park. That was pretty thrilling. It was what ignited the desire to hike up mountains in the first place. Mt. Saint Helens and a good portion of Mt. Hood will have to suffice. I've just recently realized that when I look at St. Helens across the river I no longer want another shot at her. I made it to the rim. I played in the Boulder Field and cried in the Scree. If you put together the Bush flight and the Hood/Helens climbs, I think I'll give my Denali climb a partial check in the box. I think I need to ponder this Bucket List thing a little more. I look at the few items I have above and they are all about grandness and glory aren't they? What did you expect from a Leo? I'm sure the more I think about it the more I will adjust the list. Do you have a bucket list? What would you suggest for one?