Recaffeinated Mondays: The (Not) Kicking the Bucket List

“It’s pronounced BOO-KAY”

Today is National Bucket List Day.

I am not making this up. In fact, I don’t know makes these things up.

I suppose “they” do, in spite of the fact that none of us really knows who “they” are.

I mean, it can’t be Congress. Sure they name the big holidays, but otherwise they’re too busy with renaming Post Offices and insider trading.

Too soon?

Seriously? Look it up and tell me how any of them became multi-millionaires on a salary of less than $200,000.

I digress.

Years ago as I was approaching 55, I wrote a bucket list of my own and actually posted it here.

I know none of us is guaranteed tomorrow, but I am nowhere near ready to kick said bucket. But, while it spent several years in the shed, it’s at least out now where I can see it.

While I’m a much different person than I was ten years ago, true story, I’d still like to do everything on that list. I ironically, the seemingly easiest to do, the Chincoteague Pony Swim, is still to be done.

But I’ve added it to my calendar. We’re going to try.

On other fronts, I haven’t published my novel, but I’ve published three children’s books. That’s part of being a different person. I was then, and have always been a writer. It’s just that, as I wrote then the first was published, in 2022, I figured out how to be a writer and an artist, which I also am.

Speaking of which, I’ve not yet had my own art show. I did participate in a book fair, so I’m closer. And I’m producing works of art that could potentially be in a show some day. It’s been a matter of finding my niche.

I am not yet fluent in Spanish, but I’m on day 556 on Duolingo. I still struggle, but I can read most basic phrases, and speak a few as well.

There’s a bunch of travel on that list. Some I may never get to.

But one of the big ticket items is to go hike the canyon. I mentioned this on Friday.

I mentioned a couple of weeks ago that my first summer out of Asbury College (now University), I did a short term mission project with World Gospel Mission to Arizona and New Mexico. We took a weekend trip to the Grand Canyon.

I bought the t-shirt “Go Hike the Canyon.” I vowed to make it back to hike the canyon, then to raft the canyon, and then…well, now my best friend and I are embarking on our Old Man Bucket List Road Trip (OMBLRT ™) in August. We’ll be camping around the rim and doing some reasonable day hikes.

There were fourteen items on that bucket list in 2013. Ten years later I’m close to checking off three of them.

In full disclosure, while I do hope that Mr. Shakespeare had a wonderful birthday yesterday, I’ve removed the “Read the Complete Works of Shakespeare.”

I tried. It’s just not happening. Instead, I have enjoyed listening to a podcast called Chopped Bard where Ehren Ziegler walks us through Shakespeare plays scene by scene. He’s nowhere near finishing the Complete Works. But over the coruse of the pandemic, I did get caught up on ten years worth of podcasts…and that reminds me, I’m a few episodes behind.

Like I said, I may never get to some of the travel on the list. You could help that by buying my books or art (ETSY, CafePress, Zazzle) or by just hitting the tip jar on your way out.

And, while it wasn’t on the original list, if you’re casting for Big Daddy, Tevye, or Edna, have your people call my people.

RANDOM THINGS OF INTEREST

Bed Bath & Beyond files for bankruptcy protection, begins liquidation sale
Reuters
The home goods retailer, which shot to popularity in the 1990s as a go-to shopping destination for couples making wedding registries and planning for new babies, has seen demand drop off in recent years as its merchandising strategy to sell more store-branded products flopped.

New Mexico will charge ‘Rust’ armorer in death of Halyna Hutchins after dropping charges against man who pulled the trigger, Alec Baldwin
The Post Millennial
According to the New York Post, prosecutors with the Santa Fe District Attorney’s Office have accused Gutierrez-Reed, who was responsible for the guns and ammunition on set, with a “sloppy mishandling of firearms.”

WHAT I’M READING


WHAT I’M WORKING ON

I’ve added more designs to my ETSY shop and more are coming.

I’ve now finished the third in the Stations of the Cross series. This is The Sanhedrin Tries Jesus.

KD Kitties will soon be offering a shirt on ETSY. For now, check out their Redbubble site.

KD Kitties

There’s another CAT and PIG book in the works. Maybe two. For now, please keep buying and sharing these.

Available on Amazon

Sound of the Guns runs June 22 – July 14, 2023 at Firehouse Theatre.

June 22 – July 14, 2023

BORN ON THIS DAY

American singer, actress, activist, and producer Barbra Streisand, was born on this day in 1942.


It’s Been A Hard Day’s Week

God is our refuge and strength,
A very present help in trouble.

Psalm 46:1

That verse was part of my reading this morning. This year, I’m reading my way through the New Testament and Psalms. Rather than doing the whole Bible (which I’ve done and will do again), this gives a little more time to think and consider the words.

I don’t believe in coincidences.

Forty-five years ago when I was traveling with a ministry team from Asbury College (now University), we’d

Elizabeth, Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms was born on this day in 1926. She died on September 8, 2022. She reigned for 70 years.

just ended a difficult week in Michigan (nothing against Michigan by the way, just a trying time), when I got the call that my father had passed away.

Arrangements were hastily made by a teammate and the University. All I know was that I was handed a ticket and taken to the airport.

Two of my best friends were with me that morning when I got the call. One I’m taking an Old Man Bucket List Road Trip (OMBLRT ™) with to the Grand Canyon in August. The other gave me the above verse for the journey.

It is no exaggeration to say that’s how I made it home, and how I got through much of the weeks and months that followed.

I don’t believe in coincidences. Of course that was the scripture I read this morning.

As I noted yesterday, this week I traveled to Georgia so say goodbye to my cousin Larry. What I didn’t tell you was that, way back in 1978, I took a slight break from our tour and went with my parent’s to spend time with my cousin and his family in Florida.

The Write Side Shop

Choking back tears at the funeral, I told my cousin’s wife that Larry was with me the last day that I saw my father alive. I tell the story here.

After that brief visit in Florida, I returned to the tour. Looking out the window of the bus was the last time I saw my father alive.

There are no coincidences.

The verse has been a comfort over the years and that scripture has helped me through many struggles.

Following my first round of cancer when I was in my 30s, the scripture came back to me, but it was a later verse.

Be still, and know that I am God;
I will be exalted among the nations,
I will be exalted in the earth!

Psalm 46:10

It was a time that I found, like many times in my life, that I was too busy. I had too much going on.

I had a career in event planning that was taking off. I was heavily involved with a local association to advance that career. I was a newly-minted deacon at church. I was volunteering as a tutor at our Neighborhood Learning Center. And I was still a new father.

Through the counsel of a mentor, I realized that I needed to take a step back. I put a pause on everything I was doing, except the day job and taking care of my family and my health.

Over the years, I’ve realized that I was given a gift. Life is always crazy, but there are times when it is overwhelming. But in those times, God helps me see that perhaps it’s time to take a step back.

Time to realize that I can’t do everything, and I don’t have to.

I know, you look at the list at the bottom of this post and ask “he’s not trying to do it all?”

You should see the list that got away.

Here at the end of the week, I am overwhelmed by many things. Some I have set aside.

While I may not see the solutions, I know that God does.

My faith tells me that God has already solved the problem. He’s already taken care of my needs.

I may not see it. It may not be the solution(s) that I would have liked.

But, another song we occasionally sang on that tour was…

“We win, we win, I know we win. I looked in the back of the book and we win.”

It’s been a hard week. Losing Larry was hard. The funeral was hard. The trip was hard and I’m still dealing with the effects of that on my arthritis.

But it’s all there in Psalm 46.

God is our refuge and strength,
A very present help in trouble.

Sometimes I need that reminder.

I don’t believe in coincidence.

RANDOM LINKS OF INTEREST

Report: Many Chicagoans Fleeing City For More Peaceful Places Like The Middle East
The Babylon Bee
A new report indicated thousands of people who lived in Chicago have moved to places like Syria, Iran, Iraq, and Afghanistan in search of a more peaceful place to live.

The Hunter Biden whistleblower
The Washington Examiner
The Justice Department has been investigating President Joe Biden’s son Hunter Biden for a long time. The inquiry began in 2018, before the elder Biden even decided to run for president. It is now in its fifth year. Hunter Biden has not been charged with any wrongdoing. The investigation continues.

BREAKING: Louisville bank shooter left manifesto stating anti-gun motive for massacre: report
The Post Millennial
The now-deceased 25-year-old, who suffered from myriad mental health issues, stated that his decision to gun down his former colleagues at the bank was based on a number of factors, not least as a way to show how easy it was for someone like him to obtain a firearm.

BuzzFeed News to shut down
Politico
Peretti said in the memo, shared with POLITICO, that the move is part of a 15 percent reduction in BuzzFeed’s workforce — about 180 employees.

WHAT I’M WORKING ON

One of my projects last weekend was adding two sets of printable digital images to my ETSY shop. More to come.  I’ve been trying all week to add some more. If you read the post before your got here you know why I haven’t…yet.

Rehearsals continue for:

June 22 – July 14, 2023

Firehouse Theatre

KD Kitties

And of course, many of you have already ordered, but you can order and share with friends.  More adventures of CAT and PIG are on the way.  Stay tuned.

Available on Amazon

 

BORN ON THIS DAY

American actress and singer, Patti LuPone, was born on this day in 1949.