Shel Graves' Sensorium

Taste : cold eggplant; fennel crackers Sight : animation Sound: rumbling Touch: cracker crumbs; a thin blanket Smell: engines Extra: coming home Grateful for: signage; on time; special meals; movies; air conditioning; pet sitters A jolt of joy: landing

Taste: lime, basil, blackcurrant, cassis, and lemon sorbet with a mango macaron; a mouthful of sea water; sea foam green; mistelle Sight: beach; a colorful sea pastel martini flight Sound: violin Touch: tossed by waves Smell: cucumber Extra: lighting a candle for father; The Blood Islands; Painter Henri Matisse was inspired by a trip to Corsica, "Everything glistens, everything is colour, everything is light." He said his time in Ajaccio was a revelation, "I felt growing within me a passion for colour." Grateful for:  vegan signs and sorbets; the dogs of Italy, France, and Spain; a birthday A jolt of joy: the vegan symbol

Taste: a chocolate croissant; Santa Vegana; Veluda cava sangria, aioli, pistachio ice cream creme anglaise, caprese; a red velvet beignet; a tapioca crepe; sea salt Sight: a sun goddess Sound: languages Touch: swimming in the sea; salt crystals; crisp Smell: sea Grateful for: vegan street food, an empanada; acrobats A jolt of joy: waterslides

Taste: Blanca Terra wines Sight: caves Sound: Mozart Touch: cave walls Smell: dank Extra: what happened to the poor barn owls?; DinoBurgers; cheesy Grateful for: railings, steady earth A jolt of joy: derring do, renegades

Taste: vegan paella - grilled tomatoes, grilled onions, olive oil, lime Sight: sailboats, ships in the harbor, St. Honorat Sound: French, Italian, German Touch: a grassy shore; La Grande Roue rising Extra: bliss; splendid; romantic; Lérins Grateful for: a morning walk along the beach before it gets too hot A jolt of joy: just in time to eat without a reservation

Taste: vegetable patties Sight: lightening; checkerboard tile along the sea; canals; Italian yellow buildings Sound: rainstorm, thunder Smell: canal water Touch: wet wind Extra: Mary Shelley's history here; a terrible tourist map; disappointment; spontaneity; revived Grateful for: having cash A jolt of joy: a vegan restaurant, Verde Vegan

Taste: lemon sweet frozen and tart iced; espresso Sight: blue waters; Arco Naturale; turquoise and lemon; the view from Mount Solero; tomatoes, vineyards, and olive trees Sound: Francesca Touch: hanging, feet in air Smell: ocean spray Extra: one hour around Capri Grateful for: Capri A jolt of joy: going up

Taste: hazelnut ice glass Sight: the sea  Sound: bubbling T ouch: his hand Smell: lemons Extra: Priscilla Queen of the Desert: Burn the Floor Grateful for: Sam, travel, vacation, dancing, dining, finishing a book A jolt of joy: a clean bed with white sheets and turquoise pillows

Taste: Aperol Spritz, Limoncello, orange, nocino, Strega, purim spritz, pine, anise Sight: orange and blue; Rome at night; stone pines, umbrella pines, Pinus Pinea Smell: urine streets Sound: violin and guitar Touch: thick spaghetti; humidity, heat Extra: Dorothea in Rome A jolt of joy: travel; fountain water - cool water

Taste: Turkish coffee, vegan coconut cake Sight: glistening cake Sound: "Marsha!"; K-pop Seventeen Touch: dense and moist, cakey Extra: practice saying, "Yes!"; an interfaith meditation room; readers and arthritis; Rena Priest, Washington State's First Indigenous Poet (Lummi Nation); my heart left behind, a leap of faith, faith; slows losses, what we have lost Grateful for: cake for breakfast; a clean house A jolt of joy: travel

Taste: pasta carrot, celery, pea soup Sight: sunlight through coffee Sound: chonk and floof; the wind Touch: fever and chills; a soft roll; fifteen pounds Smell: a touch of fall morning air, cool and sugary Extra: the heart wants what the heart wants; a house with room for cherry tree and apple trees Grateful for: seeing dad in dreams A jolt of joy: the sunlit sanctuary