Another slow day.

Things I’ve never done that I feel guilty about not doing and feel even guiltier about not having any interest in ever doing (along with associated defenses and rationalizations):

1. See the Grand Canyon. (I have, however, seen the Grand Canyon of the Pacific in Hawaii. It looked like a big hole in the ground covered in foliage. A big hole in the ground without the greenery would be even less interesting.)

2. Climb a mountain. Any mountain. I don’t count the ones I went up on ski lifts. (I did climb the hill on which Bowman’s Tower is located in Bucks County, PA.. I was about 12 at the time. I also drove up Haleakala to see the sunrise. It was damn cold, the air was thin and it was, after all, just a sunrise.)

3. Take a cruise. Any cruise. Ever. (I made several trips on an icebreaker named the Ambrose Shea between Nova Scotia and Newfoundland. In the spirit of full disclosure, it was in the summer and the closest ice was somewhere off the coast of Greenland.)

4. Ride in a hot air balloon. (I have no comparable experiences and hope never to have any.)

5. Travel extensively in Europe. (I went to Spain with my grandparents when I was 17. I did not speak Spanish. This was before I realized that a) 99% of all Europeans smoke and b) smoking is so offensive and repugnant to me that I cannot stay in the same room with one smoker, let alone travel across a whole continent with millions of them.)

6. See the Liberty Bell up close and personal. I live within 30 minutes of Philadelphia and have toured Independence Hall, the Mint, Carpenter’s Hall, and have worked in the Curtis Building which has one of the most extraordinary examples of mosaic art in the US. I have walked past the Liberty Bell pavilion many times (the Curtis Building is about a block away from it), but the line has always been too long. There is simply no excuse for this one.

To be continued...