Bucket Now

There was an old, old man, I once knew, blind and in a wheel chair, who chuckled about his English childhood and loved to recount  tales of his boyhood. They always ended with "I wish I had gone back there." It was too late. When he died, his family enjoyed the fruits of his labours and remembered their father and grandfather often and his words, "I wish...". His regrets should be a lesson to all. Don't wait to make up your bucket list, do it now. Do it before it's too late. When the list is finished, begin to work down all of your wishes and wants. Some BLs are relatively easy to accomplish. Things like, I've always wanted to be a red head, are not impossible. A trip to the grocery store shelf will make that one come true. Could be a hair nightmare,
 but at least you got it out of your system even though not out of your hair!  Watch out for the dangerous ones such as skydiving, marathon running and downhill skiing. They need second thoughts or you may find yourself in the daisy field too soon. The oft spoken, lose twenty pounds of flesh, is  popular.  In fact, it gets star billing in January after the festive feasts. It lasts only a couple of guilt-laden weeks and is forgotten until next year. Learning how to knit is a challenging item on the BL. That's how ugly scarves are born. And who doesn't need them? They make good pillow stuffers and car wipes. Some even end up as garden ties when unknit gradually. I know because I am a very good ugly scarf knitter. My scarves tend to have small threads hanging out after tying them off to add new wool. The next item on the list is, how do I knit in the ends of the wool so that they don't hang out after tying.  I leave them there, thinking they are a sort of marker to show where one woolball ends and another begins. It also reminds me of how many times I had to unravel and start over after a large hole of unknown origin appears. I tie them again, but the ends dangle in evidence of incompetence yet again. On second thought, strike that one off the list.  Some BLs include going to see old friends and they are the best of the list. It takes a good deal of courage to travel afar and stand in front of your old high school sweetheart's door to say howdy and shake his or her hand. When that door opens, what you see is yourself standing in the present remembering the past. The person doing the same, breaks into a smile and you know that it was all worth the search. Some  BLs are expensive but what's money for when you are almost at the end of your journey? Used to be that parents saved up their hard-earned for their kids but now the kids don't want it or need it or sometimes even appreciate it, so spend it. You worked it; you deserve it. Not a bad idea, however, to retain a bit for a decent memorial, but otherwise, enjoy what you slaved for all those years.  And do it without guilt.  Carpe diem.