A Few For “The Bucket” December 31, 2015
Posted by nrhatch in Happiness, Humor, Magick & Mystery.trackback
I crossed a few items off my Bucket List in 2015. And not just mundane stuff, like traipsing through IKEA for the first (and last) time . . . real stuff which gave us a chance to explore new-to-us vistas, venues, and adventures.
At the Florida Railroad Museum, we went on a train ride . . . to nowhere. In a vintage rail car.
We chose to sit in the AIR-CONDITIONED lounge car for the hour long trip from Here to There and back again.
As the journey unfolded, we noticed an “elephant graveyard” filled with side cars that had been side-lined.
We toured the Henry B. Plant Museum in Tampa where Teddy Roosevelt stayed with some of his rough riders at the turn of the last century.
We wandered around Boca Grande on Gasparilla Island the day before the Gasparilla Inn and Golf Course opened for seasonal snowbirds.
The greens (and blues) invited us to linger longer.
This mission’s shady courtyard invited us in.
On our way home, we stumbled across the Hatch Gallery in Placida.
And another charming cottage gallery in Placida . . . which gave me an idea for Halloween (see below).
But before we get there . . .
Did you hear the one about the pirate, the cat, and the vulture?
Me neither! I always thought pirates preferred parrots the way gentlemen prefer blondes!
Well, if pirates can reject standard stereotypes, so can I! So I dyed my hair purple for Halloween.
So what if it looked more mauve than purple . . . I didn’t want to stop traffic!
Let’s see . . . what else? Oh, yeah . . . I won a Hula Hoop Contest.
My secret weapon? No other contestants!
And I went snow tubing. In flip flops! At a Taste of Chanukah.
After sliding down the slippery slope of snow and landing in a slush pit at the bottom, I refueled by noshing on potato knish and latkes.
Woot! Woot!
We joined a Full Moon Meditation on the beach to create positive intentions and to release bad habits . . . by setting fire to them!
It’s working! Now I always know what to do . . . except when I don’t.
Aah . . . that’s better!
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Spirit Lights The Way 
A hula hoop contest winner? WOWEE. Love the strategy to the win,
Wishing you a happy new year and lots of blogging in 2016. Best, Ruth in Pittsburgh PA
Thanks, Ruth! We cannot win if we do not play. Enjoy the tail end of 2015 and a bright new start to the new year.
You are so right. Need a bright new start, for sure. Thank you, too!
Even though night flows to day 365 days of the year . . . the turning of the page on 12/31 seems to signal another chance to “get it right.”
Wow, you two packed some fun stuff in! Love the mauve hair. I am surprised you even went near the white stuff… I am sure knowing that it was temporary went a long way! Love the last picture!
We did have fun times this year . . . interspersed with the more mundane stuff and nonsense.
Hope the flooding hasn’t washed away the Tiny Ten. If you head to Florida for a winter break, let’s get together!
As always you put a smile on my face, especially with the pirate comment, the mauve hair and the flip flops 😉 Live the pictures, looks like you had a busy year. Have a wonderful New Years eve! Can’t wait to see what you are up to in 2016 🙂
Thanks, Anne! I had fun thinking of things done this year for the very first time.
When I practiced law, I toyed with the idea of showing up in court on Halloween with green or purple hair, but never did it (in case it negatively impacted my clients). Now I’ve done it! Woot!
Hope your New Year is full of interesting twists and turns.
Sounds like a fabulous 2015. Here’s to a 2016 just as awesome, NH!
Thanks, NT! I’m looking forward to your post about self-sabotage. Even at my advanced age, I find myself sabotaging my happiness with the thoughts I think. But only sometimes. And never on Tuesdays.
Hope your 2016 is full of Happy Happy Joy Joy!
Right back at you, NH!
A collection of great adventures (I like IKEA so I included that in there too!).
Ha! Everyone loves IKEA . . . except me. I watched other shoppers piling stuff into their shopping carts with glee but I didn’t find a single thing that I wanted to bring home with me.
Happy New Year to you and your remarkable husband!
I can’t get over the hole hoop win! That makes it a really WOW year Nancy.
May the good times keep rolling … in a mindful moment to moment way of course 😉
And I got a t-shirt as a prize!
Here’s to living happily-ever-after . . . on a moment by moment basis!
Sounds good to me Nancy 🎉
ps … now I want to see the T shirt!
You can see it here (scroll down) ~ it’s turquoise with the Bray Recreation and Manatee County logos:
https://www.facebook.com/events/455185581273122/
Wow, that Hula Hooping gal is so awesome!! ……. even if it wasn’t really you. 🙂 You’ve had a pretty wonderful year, Nancy. Happy 2016!
Thanks, Sylvia. You too! Glad that Mr. GBH was waiting for you when you got back.
Have a Happy start to 2016!
Whoa! You had a year full of adventures, Nancy. Wishing you many more fun escapades in the new year.
Thanks, Carol. Hope you bump into lots of pleasant surprises as 2016 unfolds before you.
All the best for 2016, Nancy. What a great year in review. I love your purple hair 😀
xxxxxx
Thanks, Dianne! I loved how it looked & HATED how it felt (like dried, caked, matted mauve blood).
But life is nothing if not an experiment.
Hope your 2016 overflows with smiles and laughter.
A train ride to nowhere sounds great to me! Wonderful pictures, Nancy. I love the purple cottage and the purple hair!
Happy New Year to you and BFF!
The train ride was fun for kids of all ages & I got a kick out of that purple cottage ~ very “in your face!”
Hope 2016 holds oodles of good stuff for you and D.
A bucket-full of good stuff, Nancy! I love the idea of the train ride to nowhere in air conditioned comfort and the setting fire to bad habits 🙂 HNY 2016!
Thanks, Tiny. The ceremony on the beach under the full moon was mindful. Setting fire to bad habits a great way to let go of anything that is getting “in our way.”
This sounded like a re-cap of Nancy’s madcap Adventures, purple mauve hair included! 🙂 Liked the Hatch and cottage art places. Your joke was silly but I am one who giggles at children’s jokes. My kind of friend, sliding down a snowy hill into slush and deciding I need to eat! 🙂 Happy New Year and hope it contains joy, good health, safe travels and surprises to you and yours. xo
Thanks, Robin! Hope your coming year is full of light, love, and lots and lots of laughter.
Such fun adventures, and I am sure you’ll enjoy many more this coming year. It’s a great stress release to just get up and follow your nose to a simple adventure. You do know how to have fun! Happy New Year, Nancy! By my clock you’ll be in the new year in 5 minutes! I have three more hours to go. LOL!
Some years, we ring in the New Year by heading to the beach at midnight to watch fireworks. Last night, I listened to them . . . from the warmth and comfort of my bed!
I don’t know if that bodes well for the New Year . . . or not.
Hey, are you sure you won that hula hoop competition? I watched the Youtube video, but the contestant looked suspiciously like someone else.
Joking aside, congratulations! The last thing I won for my performance in any field of endeavor was a badge I got when I was ten for writing a humorous essay about a school trip. I haven’t had much luck since. 🙂
You’re correct ~> my hula hooping efforts don’t resemble that video in the least. I exhibited ample enthusiasm but couldn’t quite convince the hoop to ignore the pull of gravity.
Write on! Your humorous essays cause frowns to ignore the pull of gravity and turn upside down.
Thank you very much! That’s very kind of you. Here’s to more happy blogging for both of us in 2016! 🙂 I might give the hula hooping a miss, though. I couldn’t even do it properly when I was twelve. Somehow I suspect my technique has not improved over the intervening years.
Nor mine!
This was the first year I didn’t dye my hair purple! LOL 🙂 What a great year, what a great way to live your life, what an inspiration to those like me who tend to get stuck in ruts!! Happy New Year Nancy!!
You don’t strike me as being in a rut, Kate. Especially now that you’re talking about moving to Alaska to shoot moose! 🙄
Oh, wait . . . that was Mr. T.
Like me, you want warm sunny shores.
Jamaica, mon!
Where ruts are smoothed over wit rum! 😎
LOL! You know, I won’t make it to Jamaica this year, but I’m totally going to see how many ruts rum will smooth over! hahahahahaha! 🙂 Thank you Nancy!!
Ya, mon! Now you be talkin!
What fun you had last year. Wonder what’s waiting for you this year?
Well, if history repeats itself, we’ll be moving this year!
1976 ~ moved to VA for college
1984 ~ moved to NC
1992 ~ moved back to NJ
2000 ~ moved to MD
2008 ~ moved to FL
2016 ~ moved to . . . ????
Let’s see if the “7-year-itch” puts a bee in our bonnet.
Moving is a good way to clear out the closets. I’ve been in the same place for 20 years! I have a lot of unnecessary stuff I should get rid of and moving would do the trick.
Especially when you downsize with each move. We went from 4000 sq. ft. in NJ to 2000 sq. ft. in MD to 1000 sq. ft. in FL.
Less is MORE!
Looks like a fun-filled day. And Halloween hair is fabulous. I’d like electric blue, but need my niece, Hair Chameleon, to do a professional job. As you say, “I always know what to do except when I don’t.” 🤓
I saw a commercial last night with 2 older women (70’s or 80’s) who dyed their silver hair purple for a reunion.
They ROCKED it!
Next time, I’m going for GREEN!