Bucket Lists & Joshua’s Tree 📜📚

Bucket Lists

Did you know that the idea of creating a bucket list first came out in the 1990s? I don’t recall exactly how I knew the term but I did some research and learned that there was a 1993 National Labor Relations Board report that referred to putting agenda items to be postponed in a “bucket list?” It was later popularized in the movie “The Bucket List” which came out in 2007.

Anyway, I created my own bucket list—three pages of all kinds of adventures. I had just taken a calligraphy course and proudly wrote my dreams in India ink on parchment paper. I recently found that list in a box of mementos when I was sorting through a cupboard in the guest bedroom.

While I will probably never jump out of a plane with a parachute (although it sounds exciting!) or fly a helicopter (I’ll stick to airplanes), I was amazed at how many of those pipe dreams have become a reality. I’ve learned to scuba dive, have touched kangaroos in a wild animal “zoo” in Australia, and have had a glass of champagne at the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris!

One of the more recent bucket list check-offs was a fabulous hot air balloon ride that I purchased at a gala auction. Did you know that you have at the place where the balloons are launched at 5:30 in the morning? I didn’t then, but I now understand that part of the thrill of the adventure is watching the sun rise while floating peacefully in the air a mile or so above the rest of the world.

It might not be so peaceful, however, if you see something on the ground that looks out of place and then find yourself in the middle of another mystery, like Julia Fairchild does in Joshua’s Tree. Julia and her sister Carly seem to find trouble no matter where they go. Carly says it’s all Julia’s fault.

Click here to read Joshua’s Tree for yourself and see if you agree with Carly.

P.S. Have you ever made a bucket list? What’s the most interesting thing that you’ve done or want to do?

Until next time, happy reading!