Buckets and Buckets of Bucket-Lists

We are living longer - by 2030 baby boomers will swell the ranks of age 65 and older from 13 percent to 18 percent.  Genes account for one-fourth to one-third of longevity says the author of the Longevity Project, Howard Friedman.  The advice for older people involves exercise, eating well, etc.  There are lots of bucket lists too things to do before you die - 20, 50, 100, things - pick a number. There are even lists of things to do before you are 20 and before you are 12.  I found the list from the Globe and Mail for 50 things to do before you're 12. There are twenty of them. 1. Climb a tree 2. Roll down a really big hill 3. Camp out in the wild 4. Build a den 5. Skim a stone 6. Run around in the rain 7. Fly a kite 8. Catch a fish with a net 9. Eat an apple straight from a tree 10. Play conkers 11. Throw some snow 12. Hunt for treasure on the beach 13. Make a mud pie 14. Dam a stream 15. Go sledging 16. Bury someone in the sand 17. Set up a snail race 18. Balance on a fallen tree 19. Swing on a rope swing 20. Make a mud slide I enjoyed this list - it reminds me of what it was to be a child - these seem to be things that children think of doing by themselves, without any prompting from adults.  Gathered together, they make a fine summary of what children do with almost nothing, and still have fun. The list for 100 things to do before you die  seem to mostly involve spending a lot of money - e.g. see the Mona Lisa, visit Stonehenge, visit Brazil, the Grand Canyon, France, sleep in a castle, visit Machu Picchu, The Great Sphinx, and so on.  Our picture today shows an interesting and most unusual focal point on the Niagara-on-the-Lake garden tour.  I've never seen an iron cross as a focal point in a garden before.   One will occasionally see Celtic crosses - these are a traditional garden element. The close-up of this one had praying angels facing the vertical portion of the cross.