Ferris Wheels, Harley Davidson’s and Wood Burning Cook Stoves……

More years ago than I can remember right now, I coordinated a day of volunteer continuing education workshops. During one of the workshops we were asked to make a list of one hundred things we wanted to do. Not a “to do” list for house hold chores or work tasks; a list of activities or experiences just for ourselves.

I have kept a running list of one hundred things ever since. Depending upon circumstances and what is happening in my life I am able to cross through an activity on my list or add another. When traveling for business or pleasure I research the destination area and make a list of things I want to do while there.  Sometimes those things I want to accomplish are achieved, other times they are put on the “one hundred” list to be completed at a later date. My journals are filled with lists of things I want to see, do, accomplish and experience this year, next year or the proverbial “someday.”

Making lists kept me sane while preparing for vacations, trips, remodeling or just needing to make time for myself. During first few years of singleness after 25 years of being part of a couple, the list was varied and eclectic. When I think back on that list I think the experiences were mostly about overcoming some fears I might have been harboring.

My world had become very finite, which led to a heightening of my fears.  These fears did not necessarily mean I did not do new things, I was just extremely careful when, where, why and how I let myself go and sometimes anxiety interfered with my enjoyment of the activity. Let’s just say when I was younger I lived life a little larger than I did in my mid forties.

Back to the top three things on my list after making the decision to experience new things for me… riding a Ferris Wheel, riding on a Harley Davidson motorcycle and taking a trip all by myself. I rode the Ferris wheel at the carnival in conjunction with the annual Mexican Fiesta. It felt good and I loved the rush of air on the down cycle of the wheel.

Saving my extra pennies I scraped together a deposit on a rustic cabin at the Quarter-Circle Circle Ranch, 45 miles from Gunnison, CO, near the La Garita Wilderness. The place was so remote they do not have phone service. You haul water from the spring, every day they drop off wood for the cook stove, light is from a battery operated lamp and there is no indoor plumbing.  It sounded perfect! Baking in a wood burning cook stove was something I always wanted to do.

I packed the car with any camping equipment I thought I might need. Since waiting for the cook stove to burn enough wood for my morning coffee did not sound appealing, I took along a Coleman stove. My supply boxes included biscuit mix, canned goods, frozen beef, paper towels, matches….  I would stop in Poncha Springs for my perishables.  I was ready.

Stay tuned………….

©2011 Susan Kendall.  All rights reserved

http://www.quartercircle.net/

About Lily

Born in Topeka, Kansas in the middle of the 20th Century, daughter, granddaughter, niece, sister, cousin, mother, aunt, grandmother, great-grandmother, friend, reader, spiritual, writer, cook, crafter, junker...... twice-married, former non-profit executive in retread mode... currently living a bucket list life in a remodeled schoolhouse.....
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