Bucket List

A trail near Piedmont, SD

This week, maybe this morning even, it occurred to me that this is probably the best time of life. Being a kid was fun, with lots of things to do every day, people to hang out with, and stuff to learn, but it also means you are going to school five days a week most of the year, and as a kid you are never really in control, because adults make most important decisions for you.

Having a career was not that great because again, you have somewhere to go at a certain time five days a week, but the days are longer than school days, and it goes all year around.

In retirement, I have minimal responsibilities along with a great deal of control over my activities. I am concerned that there may be another phase in which physical limitations substantially restrict what I can do with my time, but we're not there yet.

It also occurs to me that it I die tomorrow, I have had a good life. That said, there are a few things I would like to do before I go. I may have written about a couple of these before:

• Visit all seven continents
• Visit all 50 states and DC
• Make it to 80 years old.

That's it. So let's start with living to 80. There is nothing magical about 80, but my dad died at 68, and it felt to me like he got cheated out of some years. Mom was 75, and that didn't seem quite the same, so maybe 75 would be enough. In any case. if you make it to 80, you can hardly complain that you got a bad roll of the dice in terms of longevity.

I have been to four continents. The remaining three are all in the Southern Hemisphere. Jackie has never been to South America, so I need to go there again as well. The world is a big place, and I would like to see as much of it as I can.

I have been to about 30 states, and I could see most of the remaining ones and DC by zigzagging a bit from Maine to South Carolina. Have to make a special trip to Hawaii. So there are some things I want to do before I get to the decrepit stage, or maybe the "it's over" stage.

I'm not sure why I had so many random thoughts this week, but here is one more: If I ever set another goal like I did for this walking thing, I will try to keep it to one year or less. It's cool to take on a big project, but it's also cool to finish one thing and move on to the next.

I am in Piedmont, South Dakota this week. I am going to say "Piedmont" means "foothill," almost for sure, without looking it up. I have walked 1,339 miles. If I had chosen to walk to Tijuana instead of Miami, I would be in between Los Angeles and San Diego, about two weeks from completing my journey (in less than a year, just saying.) Instead, I am four weeks from Northern Nebraska, with more than a year left.