Bucket List, and List, and List

There's a new movie called Bucket List about two friends who make lists of the things they want to do before they "kick the bucket." A storyteller on a listserve asked members, "What's on your bucket list?"

That's something to think about. Apparently a lot of people are doing just that across the country, making lists of the dreams they want to realize before they leave this world.

I started my own list:
1. be published by a major publisher
2. learn to play an instrument (fiddle or clawhammer banjo)
3. go back to my small scale homestead lifestyle again--milk cow, bees, etc. and leave my day job
4. host storyteller retreats at my house
6. host writers retreats at my house
7. have regular gatherings of storytellers, writers and musicians at my house
8. travel to England, Scotland, Ireland; meet my English relatives; sit at the feet of the old balladeers and storytellers
9. build another log room on our house
10. travel more in my state; meet and spend time with people and write about their lives
11. spend a month each in at least 6 general stores and write about the experience
12. teach my grandchildren to make fruitcake
13. spend as many hours as possible walking, listening and watching in my state, and write about it
14. learn to take awesome photos; combine photos and poems into a book that gets published.
15. keep my health as long as possible
16. develop a strong, productive group of storytellers in my county
17. start a storytelling festival in my county
18. learn to sing at least 100 ballads, and the history behind each song
19. travel in New England and Montana
20. learn to make moonshine (hah! think I'm joking?)

That's just a few--there are many more, but the instructions were to list things I wanted to do. If I listed things I'd like to see happen, then the list changes:

1. see all my sons live long and happy lives
2. see my grandchildren grow up
3. see the election of a woman president
4. see the US end its dependence on oil
5. see peace throughout the world, and acceptance of all races by all races
6. see everyone have what they need for a safe, confortable life
7. see the end of the divide between rich and poor
8. see everyone believe in their ability to sing
9. see storytelling become more popular than celebrity voyuerism
10. see each country in the world committed to caring for the earth

And if I list what I want to experience, it changes again:

1. the feeling of standing under the Aurora Borealis
2. the smell of the ocean at dawn in Maine
3. the taste of melting snow in the Rockies
4. the birth of my first great-great grandchild
5. the sun rising over the ocean on Thanksgiving Day at Ocracoke
6. the crash of surf on on island in the Orkneys

There is the other list too--the list of things I've accomplished already:

1. raised my sons
2. lived in the mountains
3. had a small farm and learned how to farm
4. saw my name on the cover of a book
5. joined a writers group (might seem small, but it was huge to me)
6. went to college (late, but I did it) and got my degree
7. enjoyed many hours with many grandchildren
8. told stories at the National Storytelling Conference and others places around the country
9. saw a grandchild being born
10. learned to can and preserver my own food
11. learned to sing
12. learned to make my mother's fruitcake
13. wrote poems
14. wrote stories
15. made many good friends
16. watched sons grow into good, caring men

Okay, now it's your turn! What's your bucket list?