Saturday, August 25, 2007

What I've done

This post is inspired by Lovely Adena, who has done much in Her life and is contemplating what is yet left to do:

What I have done:

Eaten squirrel, pheasant, shark, porcupine, goat, pork brain, lychee fruit, acorns and hurka (Hungarian blood sausage).

Traveled to Panama, Hungary (duh), Canada and Hawaii, and across the entire United States by car.

Seen in person the late John Denver, Vice President Dick Cheney and former presidential candidate Mark Warner.

Written a book (it ain't published yet, sorry).

Read every extant book from the beginning of time up through the Roman Plutarch, as well as the Quran, the Ramayana, the Book of Mormon and the Pseudepigrapha.

Visited a monastery, downtown Chicago, an Indiana corn field, London and the Hawaiian jungle.

Attended a Catholic Mass and a scattering of Protestant services, a synagogue, and visited an ancient Hawaiian haiu (temple, probably spelled wrong).

Had lunch with a famous author.

Learned to identify wild plants in my locale. Eaten some of them (the non-poisonous ones).

Been stung by wasps, jellyfish, bees, nettle and the words of former friends.

Visited an orphanage and Washington DC, Monticello, Seattle, Los Angeles, Honolulu, St. Louis and Denver.

Wet my fingers in the Mississipi, James, Danube, Susquehanna and Columbia rivers.

Ridden in a plane, a train and a boat. Set foot in a sub and the replicas of the Jamestown ships.

Sampled the cuisines of Jamaica, India, Germany, Hungary, the Southern US, Hawaii, Mexico, Vietnam, China, Japan, England and Greece.

That's probably enough for now.

10 comments:

Chase March said...

I can't contemplate taking the time to make a list like that.

I think that we as humans are more than the sum of our experiences. That being said, it is kind of nice to see these lists from you guys. Quite a collection of experiences.

molly said...

Where did you find time to earn a living----or is your name Methuselah??[excuse undoubtedly incorrect spelling!]

Eastcoastdweller said...

Chase: It only took about ten minutes to write -- and it was fun to do so.

Molly: The mystery vanishes when You learn that I was a military child, then a service member myself for a decade. That put the wings on my feet. Since leaving the military, I really haven't gone anywhere, except that five-day cross country trip a few years ago.

As for the cuisines sampled, rest assured that most of them, except for Hungary, were right here in the US, not in the actual country! So maybe they don't really count.

The reading part is the work of a lifetime.

Alexis said...

Haha, I love how you mention an Indiana cornfield.

Anyway, that's a pretty impressive list.

Eastcoastdweller said...

Alexis: I actually found a tiny town off the freeway that shares the same name as my mother. Stopped there for a few minutes and picked up a dried corncob from the edge of a field for a souvenir.

Indiana was a pretty state -- very pleasant to drive through, probably pleasant to live in, too.

Anonymous said...

Oh, Eastcoastdweller! You just don't have enough to do! You need a hobby :) :)

Lone Grey Squirrel said...

Wow, that's quite a full life. Great experiences all except did you have to boast about eating squirrel?

Eastcoastdweller said...

Leslie: I need another hobby like a hole in the head.

Lone Grey Squirrel: It was long ago and far away and I was a wee child. There were hunters in my family.

I don't even remember what it tasted like. I certainly hope that you can forgive me.

StayAtHomeKat said...

Wonderful!

Life's Resume

I bet lots of people can come up with a great list as well...

There is more to each of us than sometimes we ourselves know!

Eastcoastdweller said...

Well, since I stole it from Adena and She has yet to file suit and/or kick my teeth in, I gleefully invite all and sundry to do so (write such a list, not kick in my teeth!)