Since Jill and Becky think Robert Frost is too pessimistic, here’s something more uplifting: my bucket list for the first five years of retirement (in no particular order):

• Learn to fly fish (and I know whom I want as a teacher, Mark Williams).

• Visit New England in the fall (we’ll swing by North Carolina on the way, Joni).

• Climb California’s Mount Whitney (at 14,505’, it’s the highest summit in the lower 48).

• See the northern lights (evidently, Fairbanks in the fall or Priest Lake, Idaho in the winter are favorable locations and times to view the Aurora Borealis).

• Develop a decent golf game (will help me hangout with kids and grandkids; haven’t played much since was on the Fighting Eagles team in 1967, and wasn’t all that good then).

• Learn to bend notes on my harmonica (a must if one wants to play the blues).

• Hike across the Grand Canyon (evidently, the 47.8 mile round-trip can be done in two day-hikes, lodging on the South Rim the first night and the North Rim, the second).

• Visit Scotland (to explore my Bellah roots).

• Write a book (maybe telling student stories and reflecting on what they have taught me).

• Sell aforementioned book (will help finance the other things).

So while Frost is right, and earthly pleasures (gold) fade with time, there seem to be new ones popping up all the time, which is why I’ll make a new list in another five.