My Bucket list on My 76th Birthday
“new eyes” that only come with age
Today I Am 76
Walking on our little beach,
small waves reach for the shore.
That must have been the first sound I heard,
before I was even born into the world…
comforted by that rhythm,
and the vast Bay stretching out before me.
My bird friends are all singing birthday wishes.
Carolyn and I sit on a bench — old friends,
“like bookends.”
How beautiful the valerians;
hands clasped together in contentment.
We laugh at Paul Simon’s words from his song,
“Old Friends”… “How terribly strange to be seventy!”
We are just starting out in life,
everything so vibrant.
We look with new eyes…
a vision only possible with added years.
How fortunate we are.
Noodle, with her instincts,
keeps us close to the immediacy of things.
How lucky we are
to have a little doggie daughter
caring for us.
The train whistles in the distance.
What a journey this life is;
how wonderful to share it with Carolyn and Noodle.
Every morning begins a new adventure.
So very much to be grateful for.
The Bucket on the Inside
Beyond the destinations that require a passport lies a vast, uncharted world within. This list is a commitment to the quiet discoveries that lie there — a world of presence, patience, and the endless art of returning to the beauty of the now.
To consult the clock with no hands: To live by a rhythm that isn’t dictated by the hour, but by the natural unfolding of the spirit.
To understand that the Way is not perfected, just practiced: To embrace that the path is never finished, only walked, and to find grace in the constant act of returning.
To protect my solitude: To treat quiet time alone as a sacred territory that must be guarded and nurtured.
To feel deep patience: To wait without anxiety and to understand the “hidden world” that only reveals itself in the stillness.
To witness the calm in every moment: To look beneath the surface of daily life to find the steady, unwavering peace that is always there.
To master the art of the return: To recognize when the mind has wandered and to gently, moment by moment, bring it back to the vibrancy of the present.
To discover the beauty in every moment: To look with “new eyes” at the familiar until it reveals its inherent wonder.
Thank you for sharing my birthday! In the spirit of Thich Nhat Hanh’s expression on the connectedness of all things — our “interbeing” — we share this journey together.
