By Paul Flotron — Founder, Owner & Director, Creature Comforts Great & Small, LLC

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What if the most important list you ever made wasn't about your career, your finances, or your travel plans — but about the time you still have left with your pet?

The idea of a bucket list — the experiences we want to enjoy before we "kick the bucket" — has captured our collective imagination for years. It might seem a bit sad to think about at first. But it isn't always about "before we die." Instead, it creates a beautiful sense of urgency.

Creating and updating a list of what you hope to see and do keeps you in touch with what you find moving and inspiring. It keeps you dreaming, motivated, and working hard. Most importantly, it helps you stay excited about life and deeply connected to your true sense of purpose — and to the extraordinary animals who share it with you.

Bucket list ideas can be as grand or as simple as you like. They just need to align with who you are and what you care about — rooted deeply in your interests, your passions, and the things that truly get you up in the morning.

The idea is simple: dream it up, write it down, and do it.

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A Peek at My Personal Flock List

In practice, deep self-reflection takes time — an asset that comes at a premium these days. But if you look at the very top of my personal bucket list, you'll find a dream I've been nurturing for years: I want to take my birds on the trip of a lifetime.

The Central American Expedition: My Yellow-Naped Amazon Parrot, Dudley, finds his natural roots in the lush rainforests of Central and South America. My ultimate dream is a journey to Costa Rica, Brazil, and Guatemala with my flock — to let Dudley hear the calls of his wild cousins echoing through the jungle canopy, to watch his eyes go wide with a recognition that goes deeper than memory. I can already hear him announcing our arrival: "Hola, buenos días. ¿Cómo estás?"

The Journey Down Under: For my two magnificent Cockatoos, Sing-Sing and Baby, home spans Australia, New Zealand, and the Moluccan Islands. The Land Down Under has been on my bucket list since the day they came into my life — to stand in the landscape that shaped them, to understand them even a little more completely by seeing the world they came from. G'day, mate.

These are grand dreams. Expensive dreams. Dreams that require planning, patience, and the kind of stubborn optimism that refuses to let go of something just because it's difficult. But here's what I've learned: the grand dreams matter most because of what they do to the smaller ones. When you're the kind of person who dreams of taking your parrot to Costa Rica, you're also the kind of person who notices the afternoon light falling through the window and thinks — this is a good moment. I should be present for this.

The bucket list makes you pay attention. And paying attention is the whole game.

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Checking Off Our Mini-Bucket List

Today — in honor of National Pet Parrot Day — I want to encourage all of us to live life to the fullest. And I want to be clear about something: Creature Comforts Great & Small, LLC isn't just a business. It's a family.

This is my invitation for you to participate and share your love for your animal companions. I want this to be an opportunity for all of us to celebrate together — your funny anecdotes, your cherished moments, your stories of how you and your pets enjoy life side by side.

To kick things off, here are a few ways Dudley, Sing-Sing, Baby, and I have happily checked off our own mini-bucket list milestones over the years:

🚲 Pedal Power — Enjoying a 30-mile bicycle ride together. There is something indescribable about the feeling of a parrot on your shoulder at speed — the wind, the rhythm of the wheels, the way Dudley leans into the turns with the easy confidence of someone who has done this a thousand times.

🚗 The Great Cross-Country — An epic road trip from Southern California all the way to St. Louis, with a flock of birds as my co-pilots, my companions, and my audience for every mile of it. The sunsets over the desert. The green explosion of the Midwest in spring. Memories among the most treasured of my life.

🏥 Healing Wings — Turning upside-down smiles right-side up in nursing homes, hospices, and hospitals through our pet therapy work. I have watched people who hadn't spoken in weeks light up the moment a parrot stepped onto their hand. I have watched a woman in the final weeks of her life laugh — really laugh — because Dudley said something perfectly timed and absurd. I will carry that laugh with me forever.

🧺 Paws & Picnics — Serving as proud ambassadors at our Creature Comforts Friends & Paws Picnic Fundraisers. Building community among the people who share this deep and abiding devotion to their creatures — there is nothing quite like it.

🎤 On the Big Stage — Standing in front of thousands at a large church event, representing the Noah's Ark Animal Lovers Group, with Dudley on my shoulder. I want to be honest: Dudley was significantly more composed than I was.

🎈 Up, Up, and Away — Watching the vibrant Hot Air Balloon Race at Forest Park together. A Saturday morning. A beautiful park. An animal you love. The world doing something extraordinary right in front of you. This is the kind of moment that costs nothing and means everything.

⛪ Faith & Community — Advocating for animals at local church and synagogue ministry fairs, sharing the message that our bond with animals is something sacred and worth protecting.

📻 On the Air — Hosting our Animal Adventures live radio show together. Dudley, predictably, was a natural. He understood instinctively that the microphone was an audience — and he performed accordingly.

🏖️ Beach Babes — Catching sun and sand on beautiful Southern California beaches. There is a photograph somewhere of Dudley on the Pacific coast, looking for all the world like a bird who has arrived exactly where he was always meant to be.

📖 The Written Word — Publishing our very own book, "A Family That Plays Together," alongside custom photo calendars and commercial videos. Because the life you build with your animal deserves to be recorded — not just in your memory, but in something you can hold in your hands.

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Your St. Louis Pet Bucket List Starts Now

I've shared mine. Now I want to give you a starting point — because sometimes the hardest part of a bucket list is simply beginning.

Here are ideas sized perfectly for the average St. Louis dog or cat owner. No passport required. No production budget needed. Just you, your pet, and the decision to show up fully.

For dogs:

• A sunrise hike at Castlewood Canyon with river access at the Meramec
• An off-leash morning at Queeny Park — two full hours, no phone
• A dog-friendly patio dinner on The Hill
• A road trip to Elephant Rocks State Park (90 minutes south — worth every mile)
• A professional golden-hour photo session in Forest Park
• Therapy animal certification and your first hospital or hospice visit
• The Great Forest Park Balloon Race every September — free, spectacular, and your dog will love it
• A kayak trip on the Missouri River with a dog-friendly outfitter
• A dawn drive through Lone Elk Park, windows down, nose to the wind
• A Creature Comforts adventure walk — a real, enrichment-focused outing with someone who understands what your dog actually needs

For cats:

• Leash training — yes, it's possible, and yes, it changes everything
• A window bird feeder installed at their favorite perch
• A catio or screened porch so they can breathe outdoor air safely
• A professional photo session in natural light
• A true "sniff walk" — let them lead, let them stop, let them read the world at their own pace

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Now — It's Your Turn to Share! 💬

Dudley, Sing-Sing, and Baby have made my life incomparably richer. But enough about us.

I want to hear about YOU and your extraordinary companions.

What is a favorite memory you've shared together? What grand dream do you want to fulfill? What's already on your list — and what should be?

Your pet doesn't know what a bucket list is. They don't understand urgency or mortality or the particular human anxiety about time running out. They live — completely, gloriously, without reservation — in the present moment.

They are already doing their part.

The bucket list is for you. It is the commitment you make to show up — fully, intentionally, with your whole heart — for the animal who has been showing up for you every single day without being asked.

Dudley has been showing up for me since 1992. Sing-Sing and Baby have filled my home with sound and color and the irreplaceable joy of living with creatures who have opinions about everything. And the least I can do — the very least — is make sure their lives are equally full.

So here's my challenge to you:

👇 Leave a comment below with your pet's bucket list. Share your photos, your funny stories, your cherished moments, and your wildest dreams for the adventures still ahead. Drop us an email, give us a call, or reply right here. Let's celebrate the extraordinary bond we share with our creatures — great and small — and remind each other, as often as we need to hear it, that this life we are building together is worth every single moment of intention we pour into it.

I can't wait to hear your stories.

Warmly, Paul

Book a free meet & greet and let's start your pet's next adventure →

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Curious about the science behind why adventure and enrichment are so critical to your pet's long-term health? Read Beyond the Backyard: Why Your Dog's Boredom Is Destructive — and How Animal Adventures Solve It.

Want to know the full story of Dudley, Sing-Sing, and Baby — and what 30 years of rescue taught one man about trust? Explore The Heartbeat of Rescue: A Masterclass in Welcoming Your Newly Adopted Pet.