I have never written down a formal Bucket List, but I have a few things on my mental life list: write a novel (in progress); see all fifty states (also in progress); and learn how to ride a unicycle (not in progress because I am clumsy and will find a way to ride off a cliff).
I also really want to take one great photo of a squirrel. I know, I know. It's not exactly on par with scaling Mt. Everest or swimming with sharks, but damnit, squirrels are the jesters of suburbia, and they hate to pose for the camera.
I recently started working from the leather chair in our "man room". I like working in the living room because from its window, I can survey the neighborhood; but the leather chair in the back room is much more comfortable. From the leather chair, I have a view of the tree in our backyard. And every afternoon, a fat squirrel frolics in the tree.
I now lie in wait with my camera, like the paparazzi lurking on Rodeo Drive, waiting for my muse to appear. I already have captured a few winning shots, and I think, by the end of the summer, I will be able to cross "take a photo of a squirrel" off my mental bucket list.
