I have been in the States for… maybe a week now… more, I think, and time has collapsed in on itself. Flying into DIA and retrieving the car after a month of barge life at 4K/hr. was a shock to my system. Just how was I to drive out of the airport and immediately zoom off in dense bumper-to-bumper traffic at 75 MPH? I managed… but just.
I’m having trouble getting up to speed. My body rhythms are out of whack. For those of you who remember vinyl, I’m stuck at 33 rpm. I can’t seem to plan and when I do plan, I cancel.
And so I garden and doze in the sun. Not productive, but restorative. The Valley is in shades of green to rival a Sherwin-Williams paint palette.  How long it will last is anybody’s guess. Our snow pack was 50 % below normal this winter, so it won’t be green for long.
Traveling as much as I have this past six months, I’ve heard any number of people mention the outstanding items on their Bucket List. Usually it is a lengthy list of things that they want to do before they kick-the-bucket.
Today a friend emailed a suggested bucket list. I was to put an X next to all the things that I had already done. Apparently, those items without an X would be good candidates to add to my list.
Some of the suggestions were quite good. I liked “Watched someone die, Cried yourself to sleep, Paid for a meal with coins only, Been skinny-dipping, Gone to a drive-in movie, and Watched puppies or kitten being born.” I’ve done all those things.
I have not visited Africa, Hawaii, Cuba, South America, Asia or Fiji. I have not played cops and robbers or camped in a trailer/RV. Nor have I tried bungee-jumping, stolen any traffic signs or climbed a fourteener. Color me boring, but I have never gone curling or gone on a blind date.
As I look at these choices, they don’t call out to me. I much prefer the list prepared by the National Trust, “50 Things to Do Before You’re 11 and 3/4.” www.nationaltrust.org.uk/50things. I am saving the booklet for my granddaughter Winnie who is eight years old and has three and a half years to check some activities off her list.
The list includes such winners as “Roll down a really big hill, Build a den, Run around in the rain, Eat an apple straight from a tree, Dam a stream, Set up a snail race, Watch the sun wake up, Find some frogspawn, Bring up a butterfly” and my favorite, “Feed a bird from your hand.”
I’m older than 11 and 3/4, but the National Trust activities appeal to me more than stealing a traffic sign. My time is near. If I’m going to feed a bird out of my hand, I’d better get out in the garden and begin the courtship.
Doris, what is skinny-dipping? I just love your photographs. It’s a nice story. Thank you, Doris. Helga
Skinny-dipping is swimming in the nude. And thank you for your comments. Had hoped to take a photography workshop this summer, but the one I wanted is the same weekend as the library fund-raiser, a three-day craft show. I have to work all three days, so no workshop for me. Pretty sad to miss an opportunity to learn - especially from Bill Gillette whose studio is a block from my house. Check out his photographs at http://www.bgillettephotography.com Click lower left to see the slide show. Although Bill has travelled far and wide, the photos posted on his website are all local, hometown.
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I clicked and it came up a blank page. Have you made a mistake maybe? What you call skinny-dipping I have done when I was 25 years old, or so. It felt wonderful, you should try it. I dipped into the North See on the island Sylt, at a designated area for skinny-dippers in Germany. At that time I was slim, had a very good figure, I looked divine. I am saying this now, I was not aware of it then, I took my looks for granted and didn’t think anything of it. That’s a shame, had I known I might have spent my time in more confidence than worry about how I could become attractive. I felt unloved and ugly. Can one belief this!
http://www.bgillettephotography.com is the Bill Gillette’s website. I have a long history of skinny-dipping. As for our self-esteem when we are younger, you were not alone. It takes years to grow into ourselves.
Wonderful photographs! In ‘Burning Daylight I could smell the cows – isn’t that amazing? Maybe there will be another chance for you to join Bill Gillette