What is at the top of my bucket list?
I’ve never made a bucket list before. There’s a first time for everything, right? Today, I’m going to put something on my brand new list.
Earlier this morning, I had a little snoop around the web in order to find out more about bucket lists. According to several virtual sources, a bucket list is, by definition, a list of things that you want to do before you die. It turns out that bucket listing became a popular activity after the 2007 movie “The Bucket List” in which Morgan Freeman and Jack Nicholson make their own list of things they want to do before they die, and then actually do them.
One of my virtual sources claimed that making a bucket list is easy. He advised you start by writing down the things that you’ve always wanted to do but never got around to doing. Things such as bungee jumping, skydiving, and walking the Great Wall of China. Clearly, this source is an adrenaline junkie. I’m not keen on the idea of jumping off platforms or out of airplanes from great heights. I don’t have a burning desire to walk along the Great Wall either.
My New Year’s Resolutions were to A) remember to appreciate what I’ve got and B) finish my first novel this year. My dream is to one day become a professional, full-time, earning writer. What else do I want? What do I want to have done before I kick the bucket?
It took me a while to figure out what to put at the top of my bucket list. After some soul searching, the answer came to me like a bolt of lightning accompanied by the ear-splitting blare of a police siren. I want to move to the country.
I’m tired of the brutal assault on the senses that comes with living in a city. Never-ending noise grates on my ears. Flashing neon lights hurts my eyes. Sewage and other unsavory smells crawl up my nose and linger in my nostrils. Smog fills my mouth and coats my tongue every time I attempt to take a deep breath. Getting away from the city and escaping to the countryside will in all likelihood add years to my life, giving me more time to add things to my bucket list and then accomplish them. At the very least, I’ll be far less likely to get hit by a bus or a speeding taxi while attempting to cross the street.
Laura Ingalls Wilder said, “Some old-fashioned things like fresh air and sunshine are hard to beat.” I couldn’t agree more.
Altea Addison’s Bucket List
1) Escape to the country.
To be continued…
