My friend Angie has this thing for making lists. From what I’ve heard, I think it’s practically an obsession. Me? Not so much. I’m not organized enough to make lists. Not usually anyway.
Lately, I have been putting together a few small lists in my head. Maybe it has something to do with the recent “passing” of my 40th birthday. That’s a pretty big milestone when you think about it, and since that day, I’ve been not only looking back at my life, but forward as well. I’ve been thinking about things I’d like to do at some point in the future. If I don’t get them all done, oh well. It’s not a big deal. It’s just nice to think about going to various places, doing various things. A lot of times, the planning is most of the fun in the first place.
So, today I am posting a list of some things I want to do in the future. You could call it a bucket list, except like I said, if I don’t complete it, it’s not a big deal. These are things I know I won’t be able to do in the next year. I have another list for that; things I want to do in my 40th year. (Angie is currently working on one of things she wants to do before she turns 40, but since that’s come and gone for me, I made an adjustment.)
Here goes:
**Visit Edgar Allan Poe’s Grave: This is something I’ve wanted to do since I was a kid. Actually, I’ve always wanted to visit on his birthday and watch the mysterious visitor who would leave a bottle of cognac and a rose, but alas it appears I have missed that opportunity. The visitor was a no-show this year, and I’m betting the ritual is now over. So, I will have to take my own bottle of cognac and a rose and place them on the grave of the man whose stories opened a huge world of story telling for me.
**Take an Alaskan Cruise: Most of my friends want to go to the Bahamas or some such, but not me. I have always wanted to board a ship for the great tundra of Alaska. I want to see the glaciers and watch the whales come up out of the water so close you feel like you could almost touch them. I want to see what the world looks like when the sun continues to shine at midnight, and the northern lights splash color across a darkened sky. (More than one trip may be called for.)
**Karaoke: OK, this one is probably more doable than most of the others on my list. I thought about putting it on the list of things to do this year, but I just don’t think I’ll get to it that quickly. Lot of stuff going on already, and I really don’t want to feel like I have to rush to complete something. Takes the fun out of it. And karaoke has always looked so absolutely fun to me. (Of course, I may need a drink or two in me to screw up the courage to get up in front of a bunch of strangers and make a total fool out of myself.)
**Take the Hubs to Washington, D.C.: Now this one will kill two birds with one stone. He has never been to D.C., nor has he ever been on a plane. My goal is for us to fly up there, staying somewhere in Virginia maybe to avoid the astronomical hotel prices in the capital. I also want to make this trip while the cherry blossoms are in full bloom. I’ve been there twice and never seen that, and the hubs has said he’d like to see that as well.
There’s more to the list of course. Much, much more. I want to visit California (have a friend there I haven’t seen in about 23 years or so), go on a real live ghost hunt, travel to St. Paul to meet Angie and her family….so much to do. And I do hope I get to do all of it. If not, hey, at least I’ll be able to say I enjoyed the planning.
