When the Well Goes Dry...My So-Called Bucket List

In case it hasn't been noticed; I've been trying to get here at least once a week to post something mind-blowing, entertaining (maybe only to me) or inspirational. 
This week, it seems the well went dry (although plenty of you probably thought that was last week when I ran clips of stuff that happened more than 30 years ago) and I actually found myself 'Googling' blog ideas. Surreal experience.

Also, I'd already done many of them without realizing it.
Sometimes I wonder if anybody (besides 'Bama Bone, and my family) is actually reading these? Just like that song in 1776 (hey it was July 4th 5 days ago), I wonder,

"Is anybody there?"
"Does anybody care?"
"Does anybody see what I see?"

If you are there, and reading this, I sure wish you would comment. Tell me what I am doing wrong, or right. Unless of course you are a major celebrity and want to remain anonymous which of course, I completely understand. Thinking that major celebs who wish to remain anonymous are reading this is just one of the many coping mechanisms I employ.

So on to the business of this. After all this research, what do I elect to write...
Over the last 2-3 years, well, I've experienced quite a few deaths.  And I'm turning a year older as well, which puts me just a scoch closer to my own encounter with the reaper whose name is death.

Sorry don't mean to be morbid, it's just that all of this makes me reflective.
I started to wonder how I'd want to be remembered and what I really wanted to accomplish before I shrug off this mortal coil.

1. I'd like to be remembered as a person who was interesting. Frankly I don't care that much if you approve of me (by the way that's huge, it used to be my reason for getting up in the morning-your approval) or don't approve of me, but I hope you at least would say, "She's a piece of work!"

2. On my tombstone, memorial or epitaph, hologram, or whatever they are using, I'd like to see the following quotes:

• "A man's reach should exceed his grasp, or what's a heaven for?" It's Robert Browning and is one of the touchstones of my life.
• "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness." I know there is a certain political connotation to these words but there is very little that I believe so devoutly in or am more passionate about than these immortal words of Jefferson.
• Lastly and most importantly, "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish but have everlasting life". Quote-aholic that I am, I could go on for quite a bit, but it is these three that are the blocks upon which my life is built.

3. Probably the hymns/songs I'd most like to hear are, "Great is Thy Faithfulness", "It Is Well With My Soul", Beethoven's "Ode to Joy", Max Bruch's Symphony No 1 in G Minor, Michael W Smith's "Angus Dei" and Julian Lennon's "Too Late for Goodbyes", not for the obvious pun or irony, just because it's probably my favorite pop song of all time, narrowly edging out Level 42's "Something About You". There are probably much better songs technically, etc., but it's these two that I can play and never tire of.  By the same token, if any of the following ARE played, I'll find some way to haunt you, anything by Lady Gaga, "Uptown Funk", Spin Doctors "Two Princes", "Runaround" By Blues Traveler, anything by Snoop Dog, "The Thong Song", ummm... anything by One Republic and that hideous, hideous song that I can never get out of my head for days after I've heard it, "Somebody That I Used to Know" by artist with unpronounceable, stupid name, Gotye.

4.  When people remember me, I guess the things that they should know are that I lived my life always trying not to hurt people. To put myself in their place, walk a mile in their shoes. That I loved cats/dogs, nothing makes me happier than feeding, playing with or caring for them. My life's passions are books, music and movies. That when I'm sad, I always listen to The Carpenters; Karen's voice I always thought was the best and most soothing of all voices. That I had a secret passion for the Bee Gees and ABBA. That sometimes the only thing that makes me smile when nothing else could is to watch Fred Astaire dance. My favorite color has always been blue. While I read everything and anything, my favorite book is probably, Rosamunde Pilcher's Coming Home. Yes, the Bible is paramount, but I never really considered the Bible...merely a book. My favorite painting is the "Marriage of Arnolfini" by Jan Van Eyck. Although I also love JMW Turner, Winslow Homer, Auguste Renoir and the portraiture of John Singer Sargent. I love poetry, particularly Shelley's "Ode to the West Wind" and Shakespeare's Sonnet 116..."Let me not to the marriage of true minds, admit impediments..."

5. I always wanted to get married outside in a rose garden. Living in Fl, I probably should say the beach, but to me that's the ultimate cliché, besides I sunburn faster than it takes most people to find a seat at a wedding. I still hope to one day find me a kind, funny and handsome groom to join me in this garden.

6. I regret never having gone to my High School Senior Prom. I should have, I had the dress, but I lacked the courage.

7. Before I shrug off this mortal coil, I want to be a better writer. I need to work at it more, I've been lazy. I'm too old to keep being lazy.  Since the moment, I began committing words to the page, there is rarely anything I've loved doing more, except maybe reading.

8. I want to see Canada, Maine, and go on a train trip. Actually, I've retrenched a bit seeing as how it used to be England, Italy, France and Australia.

9. I know it's probably indulgent, and non-PC, considering most people nowadays have a memorial service with a please contribute to in lieu of flowers thing. But, damn it, I want flowers. Funerals are grim enough, so even though I'm not actually going to be there, I'd like to think of it as being beautiful. Life is short and beauty is important. I want to drink in all the beauty I can. It's probably little known, but flowers are a big deal to me. I love roses (although not red, old fashioned ones, yellow, peachy pink, ivory), lilies, freesias (if only for the scent), and hydrangeas best of all.  I also have a soft spot for gardenias and petunias which always make me think of my Grandma, but the scent of gardenias is a bit overpowering and petunias don't do well as cut flowers.

10. Sometimes I feel that I've lived life too safely. That I didn't take enough risks. So a few things I'd  wanted to do, but always talked myself out of are scuba diving, horseback riding, competing in ballroom dance, going on Space Mountain at Walt Disney World, and climbing up the tower at the Ponce Inlet Lighthouse.  I should do these things.

So this is what you get when the well goes dry...essentially my bucket list.
What's yours? Leave a comment!