A Bucket List for the Common Man

I’m probably not going to make it to Machu Picchu this year, the Inca ruins of Peru.

And unlike George H.W, Bush, I didn’t parachute out of an airplane on my birthday.

My odds of swimming in the Dead Sea are…close to zero

I do have a modest bucket list, more Walter Matthau than Walter Mitty.

At the top of my bucket list: to appreciate the simple pleasures in life.. Starting with number one: At least once a day, to look at the world through the eyes of a five year old… and to know that’s it okay to be both a princess and a basketball player.

Its okay to eat a chocolate chip cookie right before dinner — the world is not going to end.

And its really okay to give hugs upon entering and leaving the house every single time.. going to the store — hugs! Going to get the mail — hugs!

So tomorrow, in lieu of climbing a volcano,

I am going to linger at a playground and watch my 5-year old go up and down a slide 400 times…Before I leave for work, I am going to give my wife a real hug, not a fake one… Most of all, when the sun sets over the Rockies, I am going to put down my phone and marvel, just marvel, at the place I call home.

• Jay Solomon