Many of you have a "Bucket List." 

Apparently, I have a "Duck It List."

I know because as summer winds down I have heard from many who have gone to great places and experienced great things. They are happy to report checking another item off their roster of goals – those things to do before they "kick the bucket."

I, on the other hand, seem to have a growing list of things I should do, but keep ducking.

They are neither urgencies nor emergencies. They are simply things that could be done, but don't have to be done. At least, not right now.

Take my garage. I like order and generally resist clutter. But it is so easy to turn this sheltering space for the family fleet into an in-home storage unit containing tools, lawnmowers, garden chemicals and a walled pegboard full of useful gadgets, handy to have maybe once a year.

On its shelves, I have boxes of bolts, jars of nails, cans of screws, washers and widgets and thing-a-ma-didgets.

Of course, there is so much, I can't find what I need when I need it, and Mr. Fixit becomes Mr. Buy-A-New-One. That means the assortment grows.

What I need to do is schedule a day. Mark it on the calendar. Block off all other responsibilities, and then remove everything from the garage and only put back what I have used in the past six months. The rest will be boxed for the Old Junk Home.

But this isn't really what I want to do, so I duck it.

I could say pretty much the same for the attic. In fact, it's worse than the garage when it comes to casual storage because it's dark and hot and hard to access when climbing a little ladder while carrying a box of old plates.

For years I have vowed to begin with an honest appraisal of what I call the attic's Christmas Corner. There are more than 30 boxes and plastic tubs – most of Christmas Past.

Who better than me – the man who put them there – to decide what stays?

I have a lot of books. Many I have not read. I need to read them because right now I have four stacks – each 4 feet tall – in a corner of the room where I used to read books for fun.

It's not fun anymore. I need to clean out the stacks … but I don't. I duck it.

My Duck It List is not just about stuff. Like many of you, I need to get the oil changed in cars. I need to put in new AC filters. I need to edge the driveway and buy fresh pine straw for the front yard plants. I need to repaint the mailbox and trim the side hedge. I need to drag out the long ladder and replace two outdoor floodlights. And while I'm at it, I need to clean out the corner gutter that the neighbor's overhanging hickory keeps filling with leaves.

But I just don't want to. 

There are things we all desire, and I hope your personal goals are fulfilled.

As for me, shirking appears to be working.

"Tomorrow," as a noted Southern feminist once said, "is another day."

Bill Kirby has reported, photographed and commented on life in Augusta and Georgia for 45 years.