Shel Graves' Sensorium

Taste: peaches; Davenport Soft Peanut Brittle Sight: The Hugo Award Sound: utensil to plate; teacup to saucer Smell: peaches; the women in workout wear who smell of plumeria Touch: 2.8 miles around Green Lake; 5K 3 miles; 10K 6 miles 2x Green Lake; half marathon 13 miles 4x Green Lake; sweat stinging an eye; the heft of The Hugo Award Extra: a cruel father; a resurrected frozen cat Grateful for: movement; showing up; green shoes

Taste: red curry Sight: three crows perched on the rooftop Sound: rainfall Smell: cinnamon toast; an office supply store Touch: a summer cold; sore leg muscles Extra: a green trail up a mountain stair photographed at night as seen in early morning and a mansion covered in vines; "Sacken," a scary story of barbaric punishment by China Miéville ; post-coital tristesse — sadness after sex, when you want to cry with compassion for the world Grateful for: arriving anywhere safely

Taste: wild huckleberries; saffron rice; vindaloo; Deadbolt red Sight: a blue moon, a full moon; the dog lies under the footstool; a hoary marmot, a pika, a Douglas squirrel, a chipmunk, a shrew; a marmot nibbling huckleberries; her beautiful blue sad eyes Sound:  head hits rock; tumbling, clacking rocks Smell: warm pine dust at dusk Touch: opening the doors painted green and blue Extra: Nyx, the Greek goddess of night; Meng-p’o, Buddhist goddess of forgetfulness and amnesia; Ala, Odianai goddess of earth, morality, fertility and creativity; S.T.A.R.S.: Smile, life is a great adventure. Transcend to triumph over the negative. Aspire to be the best. Resolve to be true to your heart. Success comes to those who never give up on their dreams. — Adriana Ocampo, planetary geologist and Science Program Manager at NASA "examining each other with desperate attention, an air of silky sexy tension roiling like the fog that sank and lifted bedazzling their sleek flanks, th...

Taste: sangria Sight: the fine lines around our eyes, our crystal skin, our fragile faces, our large eyes Sound: frustrated rattling; "Hey, girls!" Smell: phlox Touch: a key stuck jammed in a lock Extra: having my long hair cut as an astronaut and Revlon do makeup; a hoodoo aka tent rock, fairy chimney, earth pyramid — a tall, thin spire of rock that protrudes from the bottom of an arid drainage basin or badland; badlands — dry terrain where softer sedimentary rocks and clay-rich soils have been extensively eroded by wind and water; spying on your neighbors for the neighborhood watch Grateful for: closeness, the health and happiness of friends, when we come together, peppermint oil, summer