RICH RITTER BUCKET LIST

I recently noticed that creating a so-called “bucket list” is very much in vogue. To enhance my already glamorous reputation as a fashionable writer of edgy historical fiction, I have therefore decided to create my own personal bucket list of twenty items and post it on social media wherever possible.

1.         Play the tuba with a marching band in a half-time show.

2.         Learn to play baseball, including outfield and infield but not catcher.

3.         Learn to play tennis, both singles and doubles.

4.         Learn to golf without swearing too much. Break 90 at least once.

5.         Learn to swim, including mastery of the sidestroke (in case the cruise ship sinks).

6.         Learn to ski, but don’t take the wrong chair lift to the top of the advanced slope after only three runs on the beginner’s hill.

7.         Learn to sail, even if the power-boaters make fun of you. Perform a single-handed jibe (without causing damage to the boom) at least once.

8.         Play the timpani for a performance of Beethoven’s 9th Symphony.

9.         Live in a European City for a year (or thereabouts).

10.     Cross into East Berlin through “Checkpoint Charlie.” Return without getting arrested.

11.     Hike the Chilkoot Trail, maybe twice because it’s pretty awesome.

12.     Build a snow cave and sleep in it at least one night before retreating to the RV.

13.     Become president of a small business. Embrace the hostile business environment and crushing personal risk for a minimum of 15 years.

14.     Design a major building—or maybe a couple dozen, depending on the length of survival (see above). Don’t forget to collaborate.

15.     Run a half-marathon in under 8-minutes per mile, even if it damages your knees and you never run again.

16.     Marry someone for love, even if she is occasionally hard to live with.

17.     Adopt at least two children.

18.     Attend marriage counseling without walking out of a single session.

19.     Write the “Great American Novel,” especially if not one literary agent wants to read it.

20.     Travel to a minimum of 20 countries, including places a little out-of-the-way like Australia or South Africa or maybe Russia.

There you have it. I may change the list from time to time, but I think there’s plenty of work to do to accomplish these items. I thought of adding “become a whiskey snob,” but I’m so close to accomplishing this that it didn’t seem appropriate for a bucket list. Please let me know what you think. I’d love to hear from you.