Getting Culture

It seems that everyone is talking about the lists of things to do before they die. Like sky diving or see the Grand Canyon. I don't have such a list. I do own the book 1000 Places To See Before You Die by Patricia Schultz. It was a gift. (I find it annoying that I can't decide whether to actually check off in the book the places I have already been, or to keep it pristine.) Why are there a 1000? Why a list?

This topic has come up in my Art of Retirement class - things to do to keep from being bored when retired: Make a list of things to do! When I mentioned that I had been going to lots of museums since retirement. Someone asked if that had been on my list of things to do after I retired. Was it?

Not necessarily, especially since I do not have such a list**. It was just something that I never really had the time or energy to do while working. So one of the first things I did when I knew I was retiring was buy a membership to the Fine Arts Museums of SF and go to the exhibit of Annie Leibowitz photographs that I wanted to see. I love photographs. This exhibit was pretty interesting.

But getting to the museums in SF from my house is a long haul. I can take BART in to the city. In fact, my fellow retiree, Bee, and I took BART to the MOMA in SF a few weeks ago, and I had also taken BART to the Asian Art Museum in the Civic Center area of the city with a group of retirees from my work. But how to reach the DeYoung in Golden Gate Park? or the Legion of Honor way out by Golden Gate Bridge?

So I was happy to see that they have started a "Culture Bus". This stops at most of the museums in the city center and then goes out to the DeYoung and Academy of Sciences in Golden Gate Park. Bee and I made the trip to the DeYoung, and plan to go back to the Academy soon. We were happy to ride the bus with the tourists and other people who do not have to be at work on a Thursday. It is a strange feeling having the ability to go to a museum in the middle of the week!

But why did they have to name it the "Culture Bus?"

**P.S. Don't get me wrong, I have a list of things to do, but mostly they are things like: "go to the grocery store, buy toothpaste, call the cable company." Not exactly a lifelong plan.