Saturday, June 6, 2015

It’s Impossible to Make a Bucket List

I keep meaning to write a bucket list.  The trouble is the only time I think about bucket lists are when I’m doing bucket-worthy things. 

By bucket-worthy, I’m not talking about a country I want to visit.  To me a bucket-worthy line is more specific than that.  The problem is that I’m not sure I would have known to put them on the bucket list until after I’ve accomplished these line items. 

So if I knew then, what I know now here are a few things I would definitely put on that list.  It is unfortunate that I don’t know now what I will know then or this list would obviously be longer!

1.           WITNESS A LEATHERBACK TURTLE COMING ON SHORE AT TWO IN THE MORNING Watching a leatherback turtle come up on shore to lay eggs is amazing.  I was no more than a couple of feet from her. 

2.           HIKE ACROSS AN ISLAND THROUGH THE RAIN FOREST I walked across Saint Lucia rain forest and listened to the parrots, tree frogs and cicadas singing in unison.  It was grand until we became lost in the forest; then a nightmare, today a great memory.

3.           SLEEP IN A GRASS HUTS AND LEARN ABOUT STRANGE RELIGIOUS PRACTICES I rode a boat across Lake Atitlan in Guatemala with two of my sons.  We stayed in a grass hut.  We went to pay homage to Maximon, the God who is tied to a string.  But first, we had to look for a boy and a girl.  The girl would be holding a chicken in her arms.  They were our guides to witness Maximom on an alter with a few men drinking “spirit”.  While we were there, the people who we paid to stay in the grass hut fished for our dinner.

4.           EAT GIANT MANGOS Costa Rica and Honduras (and probably others) have “real” Mangos that are the size of a small watermelon.  I am sure I will never find that quality again, unless I return to Central America during Mango season.

5.           LEARN THE VALUE OF THE TEAK TREE I probably would not have thought to add a line to learn how people make palm oil.  I learned that in Costa Rica.  I learned that Teak Trees produce an oil to temporarily die skin.  They are a major source of die for the Henna industry.

6.           WASH A STRANGERS FEET  I never would have added washing the feet of a complete stranger in a foreign country.  This is something I did in Saint Lucia at the Seventh Day Adventist Church. 

7.           BECOME A PEACE CORPS VOLUNTEER  I was inspired to become a Peace Corps Volunteer while visiting son in Honduras.  Until my visit to Honduras I did not know that my life would not have been complete without it!

8.           EAT SOUP WITH MY HAND  In my wildest imagination, I can’t think of any reason I would have added "eat a strange soup the big dough balls – and eat it with my right hand".  That was definitely a great Ghanaian experience.

9.           EAT SOUP THAT MOVES Another food story would be to eat soup that appears to be moving in a country where few speak English and the ingredients are unknown; an experience in Kyoto, Japan.

10.      ATTEND A PENTECOSTAL CHURCH I would not have gone to the Pentecostal Church with the Pastor and his family but the people were warm and welcoming making the experience rich.  I’m so happy to check that off my list in progress.

11.      FLY INTO ONE OF THE MOST DANGEROUS AIRPORTS Flying into what many call the “world’s most tricky” airport where the pilot admits before landing that the landing strip is not long enough to be safe, further explaining that the mountainous range makes it even more difficult.  Passengers ritually clap when the plane stops safely, but sometimes it doesn’t.

12.      SIT IN A BOAT SURROUNDED BY ALLIGATORS Spend an afternoon on an airboat surrounded by alligators being coaxed closer with the lure of marshmallows.

13.      LISTEN TO JAZZ GREAT ELLIS MARCELLIS Attending a set at Snug Harbor and listening to the great Ellis Marcellis who is over eighty years old while thinking of my dad who loved both Jazz and New Orleans.


14.      REALLY HAVE DIVERSE FRIENDSHIPS  Having met people from all over the world and learning we are different and the same.

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