REVIEWING — UPDATED (A-Z CHALLENGE)

Sonia, at Gutsy Writer, challenged us (her readers) to develop a "Life List."
A life list can be a list of things you would like to do, sometime. It can also be a list of things you have done (as in a life list of birds seen). In my case, putting together a life list meant thinking over my life, various experiences, and various hopes, or dreams. It was an interesting review of years, decades.
My list is a bit of the past, and a bit of the future.
I call it: Things Done, and Awaiting.

* Teach myself Welsh, including a visit to Wales. Fortunately, I know some great bloggers in Wales. (They show up in the "Other Thoughts Worth Considering" part of my blog — left margin.)
* Fly in a glider
* Live passionately — Trying to do that all the time.
* Visit Australia — If I can travel that far. I know lots of fair dinkum bloggers there, too.
* Get more fully involved in the life of our city, particularly in the downtown. (I know the city councillor for the area.)
* Visit the Holy Land (Israel and Egypt) — 20 years ago; a great time. I'd go again, but that part of the world is so unsettled, thus unsafe. (We were only stoned once the last time we were there.)
* Have a lot of fun — Been a bit short of that for a while.
* Learn to paint with watercolours.
* Watch birds — That’s the different kind of “life list.”
* Inspire/encourage others — One of the most important things any of us can do
* Live in an Intentional Community — similar (in some ways) to monastic community, but with the option of including married people; participants need to be enthusiastic about life, eager to learn, and eager to serve.
* Buy a motorcycle — Do you know how much a good motorcycle costs? (Hint: more than a car costs.) Dubious about this one.
* Get people together for dinner, and talk about really important things in the world, and how we might become involved.
* Go Whale Watching - Belugas, at Churchill, already; would really like to see Orcas along the British Columbia coast.
* Watch a sunrise or sunset -  We do that lots of days from our apartment — amazing view of sunset over the city.
* Watch a meteor shower - Long ago, when I was in my teens; more since.
* Watch the Aurora Borealis — The shifting colours always amaze me. Often very visible in July or August.
* Climb to the top of the Brock Monument at Queenston Heights, Canada — several times; great view of the battlefield. (We turned back the American invaders there in 1812, but lost our best General — Sir Isaac Brock.)
* Hold a snake — Held garter snakes a couple of times. Almost stepped on a rattlesnake, once. Lived to tell the tale.
* Visit the Parliament Buildings in Ottawa — have done that, maybe would do it again.
* Visit the Lincoln Memorial — In 1990 , my first (and only) trip to Washington, D.C. (I've been to other parts of the U.S.)
* Visit the Great Wall of China
* Visit Paris - On our way back from the middle east; only one evening, sadly — would be nice to go again, for a week or two. (I'd like to have Genie, and Holly, and M as tour guides.)
* Have my own business — Been there; done that; have the scars. Not an undertaking for the faint of heart.
* Get back to riding my bicycle.
* Sit by a camp fire with friends and sing songs — would love to do this again — and talk about interesting/important things.
* Fly in Hot Air Balloon — Did that a few years ago.
* Take a martial arts class - Have always wanted to study Ken-Do. Now I’m probably a little old for that.
* Start my own blog - several, actually
* Sleep under the stars -  as long as it doesn't rain and the mosquitoes aren't around.
* Slept on an overnight train - Heading down towards Aswan, Egypt, and towards Churchill, Canada.
* Serve in a soup kitchen — during  my teens, in Toronto.
* Contribute to a Food Bank — regularly
* See Niagara Falls, Canada and US — Several times, might do it again
* Go to a play at the Shaw Festival, Niagara on the Lake, Canada — done it already, would love to do it again.
* See a total eclipse of sun or moon - Several times, for both.
* Save a favourite childhood toy - my Teddy Bear (from my first Christmas, in 1945). Must post a picture, sometime
* Sit on a jury — Sadly, this won’t happen. Because I’m pastor, I cannot serve; likewise, because I’m a journalist. But I’ve sat through a number of trials as a reporter. Boring, mostly. Not at all like what one sees on tv or in the movies.
* Read the entire Bible — again
* Publish a book - My memoirs, perhaps
* Kiss in the rain — Married for almost 42 years; what do you think?
* Join a book club - Did in the past; we didn’t meet often enough to keep up my interest. But maybe this year.
* Hold a praying mantis - When I was growing up. Beautiful creatures.
* Have my portrait done - Expo 86, Vancouver, Canada (picture using coloured pencils). I still have it.
* Have my picture in the newspaper - Several times.
* Have enough money to be truly satisfied - just about all the time
* Grow my own vegetables - Done that before; might try again. We’ve got a herb garden on our apartment balcony, but it’s mostly J’s project this year.
* Go to a drive-in theatre - Done that.
* Go sky diving - A bit ambivalent; one never knows.
* Go skinny dipping - Oh yeah.
* Go scuba diving or snorkelling — A bit of very shallow snorkelling when I was younger; would like to try scuba gear.
* Go rock climbing — In the Canadian Rockies; I'm getting a bit (something) for that kind of activity.
* Fly in a helicopter — Years ago.
* Fly in a single engined plane — With my dad, and mom, when I was very small. (Dad used to have a commercial pilot's licence, number 101.)
* Donate blood - Used too; taking too many meds now (sadly). Donating blood is an important way of contributing to community.
* Climb a mountain - Again in the Rockies.
* Build a snow fort - I live in Canada; what else can I say? But I have yet to build an igloo.
* Buy a brand new car - We have, but we're really a used car kind of family. 
* Ride on a motorcycle - Several times. Which is why I would like to own one, though that isn’t likely to happen.
* Go on a cruise - As an educational project; up the “inside passage” from Vancouver to Alaska, or across Canada's North West Passage.
 * Be in a movie - Hosted an educational video, actually. I’ve also produced a couple of movies, one of which won an international award. (Blush!)
* Take better pictures — Taken lots, but I want to take BETTER pictures.

That seems like about enough. More, later (perhaps).