Living Life

While travelling with a very good friend on business recently, we got into a discussion of the things we do, things that we don't do but would like to, and the whole idea of actually taking the time to live your life rather than just letting it pass by. The more I think about it, the more convinced I am that I am much too passive in the living of my life. With work, family and all the other day to day things that eat up the hours, it is all too easy to fall into the routine of just getting through each day without actively striving to do more of the things that you want to do. Part of our conversation became a "bucket list" session of the things we would like to do before we kick the bucket, but there was also a component of it that was much more day to day, and therefore achievable in the shorter term. Many bucket list items are large goals such as places you would like to visit and more extravagant things to do, which are often a significant investment in time and money, and would require real planning. But so many of the other things you just need to make up your mind and do.

The day after our conversation, on her birthday, my friend went horseback riding for the first time in many years. I am proud of her. She made up her mind to do something for herself, something that she had been wanting to do but hadn't made the time for, and she did it.

One of the more important outcomes of this whole thought process was the reminder that my two daughters, who are at opposite ends of elementary school age-wise, are growing up way too fast. I realistically have maybe ten years left with them before they are well down the path of turning into full-fledged adults, and the prospect of hangin' with Dad becomes totally uncool (for a while at least).

With that being said, here are some of the things that I want to do with the family, some things I would like to do myself, and a few truly bucket list items. In no particular order...

• We have not been on a real vacation in years. We do little day trips and the like, but have not been anywhere of substance as a family since we took Julia to Disney World when my wife was pregnant with Grace. Embarrassingly, this means that Grace has never been on a real vacation. I need to fix that. Grace has been lobbying hard for Disney World, and she should get to see it (from the outside this time).
• Charter a boat out of Rock Hall Maryland for a half day of striper fishing in the Chesapeake. Six of us did this several years ago, and it was a blast.
• Learn how to fly fish.
• Be more creative and adventurous with day trips or weekend trips with the family. As the kids get older, more and more things become possible.
• Take a few golf lessons. I have never taken a single lesson in my life and my game is absolutely mediocre. I would like to take a step back and go over fundamentals with a pro.
• Take the kids to the beach. All kids should have time at the ocean.
• Go hiking with brother Dave, who gets out regularly.
• I spend way more time painting figures than playing games with them. I need to pick up the phone, call some friends, and get some games going.
• As an archaeology major in college, I would to see the great pyramids of Giza, outside Cairo.
• Find a way to play some tennis with my wife, who is a tennis fiend (and was just promoted to a 4.0 USTA rating - way to go Amp!).
• Go canoeing. Dave and I bring this up regularly, but ever get around to it.
• I would like to see the Normandy beaches of France and the D-Day memorials and cemeteries.
• I would like to go on a major fishing trip to somewhere like Canada or Alaska.
• Spend more time with my parents.
• Other places I would like to see: Yellowstone, Yosemite, Italy, Spain, various Civil War battlefields, Provence, Scotland, Navajo/Four Corners country in the American southwest.
• Places I have been and would like to get back to: Salzburg Austria and the Tyrolean/Bavarian alps, Napa/Sonoma California (especially a little slice of heaven called Auberge de Soleil near Rutherford), Waterloo, the Burgundy region of France, the Matterhorn and Zermatt Switzerland.

I will add to this at some point, and hopefully be able to report on actually doing some of these things, but this is a good start.