What’s on my bucket list?

I’ve heard of bucket lists for years but never thought much about them. Several years before Dad graduated to heaven, he said one of the last things on his bucket list was to take a ride in a hot-air balloon. I could be mistaken but I don’t think he took that ride.

So what in the world might be on my bucket list?

The term bucket list was popularized by a movie of the same name starring actors Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman. It was released in 2007. The phrase bucket list comes from the phrase ‘to kick the bucket,’ which is a figure of speech meaning ‘to die.’ Many folks have heard of the term prior to the release of that film, but the movie made it popular.

But what’s a bucket? The original term was probably bucker.

Dating from the early 1700s, the word beam denotes the transverse bar from the ends of which the scales of a balance are suspended, and the literal sense of the phrase is that one scale is so lightly loaded that it flies up and strikes the beam. In jolly old England, the beam or crossbar was referred to as a bucker and people eventually began calling it a bucket. Why? Perhaps some goofy person made the “r” look like a “t” and no one caught the error? I don’t know.

So, where did we get the phrase, to kick the bucket?

In England, when pigs were to be killed they were hung by their hind legs with a rope tied to a pulley on the bucker, or bucket, and oxen walked a few yards pulling the rope to haul the pig up.

The pig began yelling and kicking fiercely and, as it reached the crossbar, its feet kicked the crossbar, or bucker, or bucket, that it was tied to. Therefore, to kick the bucket is to be hung from the bucket by the heels until dead. And in modern usage, to kick the bucket means to die.

Now we can define the phrase bucket list.

Using the current concept of a bucket that can contain anything from milk to sand, the phrase bucket list is used to describe things a person wants to do or accomplish before they die.

People often create a bucket list as they near retirement age, striving to make time to do some of the things they may have put off in their younger years due to work or family commitments. While it’s become common practice for pensioners to pursue their bucket list dreams, a growing number of them find themselves in the hospital with serious injuries brought on by these activities or escapades. Be careful, people!

Now, for the big question: What is on my bucket list?

I am not given to wishful thinking, so that makes it difficult. I’ve done everything I’ve ever wanted to do. Perhaps not to the degree to which I had aspired, but I’ve accomplished my basic goals. I’ll continue doing what I enjoy doing: Write, format books, visit kids and grandkids, teach from the Bible, help people understand life.

I have not lived an empty life. Instead, my life is full and running over, but several friends and relatives kept asking. So, what do I want to do prior to graduating to heaven?

need to live. I can tell you some of the saddest tales of woe since the coffee emporium specializes in them at the round table. On rain-drenched afternoons, a feller might even shed alligator tears over the needless pain inflicted on some by the price of gas. I had to leave pretty soon after getting there because I was already desponding over the rain! I don’t do political stuff, but I wonder how long some folks are allowed to live. I do vote, and only once, and I don’t think any of our deceased citizens have admitted voting! We won’t have a town meeting because the ones in control don’t drink coffee at the emporium!

The old hay truck is a running dude now. The overhaul took the kinks out, and even the radio works. I can’t hear it due to the loud motor but the light is on! I spent hours in it today just checking and going from one place to another and looking at hay. We will be trying to wrap some up tomorrow and the rest of June. I just don’t know if we will have enough hay if it is a really wet and hard winter.

The preacher set the revival for the first week in June, thinking of the vacations in July and August. He is a kind soul but not a farmer. I know all the children up to 19 will be in attendance, but how in the heck will us men be there? The women have not said much as of yet, so we will live and learn!

I learned that Jack is one of the smartest horses in the world yesterday afternoon. We were looking for the calf of a certain cow, Number 274, who was showing a really tight bag, looked like she had not been milked for several hours. Jack started off slow but didn’t travel far until he slowly turned back to the barn. I just let him turn and start back before correcting the destination. Kids — my grandkids and their friends — have been riding Jack. He only goes so far and then turns back, a very spoiled move!

I got all my long arms oiled, cleaned, and the serial numbers registered during the monsoon and hope to win the shooting contest on the Fourth of July! Do you practice enough to beat the younger ones? Go for it and Remember the Alamo!