Shel Graves' Sensorium

Taste: concord grape; sweet basil; bitter raw cocoa; bitter green tea Sight: turmeric; chlorophyll Sound: swells of strings; “Sing, Sing, Sing (With a Swing)," 1936, composed by Louis Prima; swells of rainy wind, dripping sky, gusts Smell: sweet basil Touch: a burning paste Extra: The Witch Head Nebula - a cosmic crone Grateful for: running in the   rain; a receding cold; good health, strong limbs

Taste: Hoppin' John Fritters; maple flax nog; chocolate chia seed pudding Sight: Impressionists: Auguste Renoir, "Woman With A Cat"; Edouard Manet, "A King Charles Spaniel"; Henri Fantin-LaTour, "Still Life With Grapes and a Carnation" and "Three Peaches on a Plate" Sound:  salesgirls' talk - auras, spirit animals, prisons and spaghetti squash Smell:  cinnamon, cloves, pumpkin spice Touch:  shortness of breath; dry, aching feet; 4x440 Extra: grand spiral galaxies; tholins — a class of heteropolymer molecules formed by solar ultraviolet irradiation of simple organic compounds such as methane or ethane; gravid — being swollen with eggs - pregnant; book lungs; heart mark; autonomy - the willingness of a spider to drop its leg; heroes — paidea (skill), arete (strength) and xenia (compassion) Grateful for: running by sunsets over the water and watching the rising moon

Taste:  beet juice and rainbow carrots Sight: blond toddlers jumping in puddles Sound: "Hippety-hop! Hippety-hop, hop, hop!" Smell: wet dog's paw; cotton candy Touch:  pinching shoes, long-standing; congealed, cold mac and cheese Extra:  the 21 year old afraid of war;  "The typewriter is holy the poem is holy the voice is holy the bearers are holy the ecstasy is holy!" — Howl, Allen Ginsberg  "And the silken, sad, uncertain rustling of each purple curtain Thrilled me—filled me with fantastic terrors never felt before;" —  The Raven,  Poe  Grateful for: a long walk, a river otter; a thumb drive, a friend; freedom of speech

Taste: sour, tart; sweet, warm, fresh, multi-apple cider; Tieton Cider Works Apricot hard cider; Seattle Cider Pumpkin Spice Sight: autumn sunsets Sound:  syzygy Smell:  patchouli Touch: hot yoga, dripping sweat; a hot mug Extra: Game Group Appreciation Day; word of the day: syzygy, a conjunction or opposition, especially of the moon with the sun, "a tri-solar syzygy" in The Three Body Problem,  the planets were aligned in syzygy"; "The strangely dressed woman was a famous writer, one of those rare novelists who wrote in an avant-garde style but still had many readers. You could start one of her books on any page." — The Three-Body Problem Grateful for: the waterfront; long walks