July 06, 2005

In the Realm of Six Senses

Amba invented this one and Nappy40 took it up, with many comments on both sites to expand our palette of sensations. Here’s my list.

1) What are your 5 favorite smells?
mimeograph ink and related childhood intoxicants (gasoline fumes, isopropyl alcohol at doctor’s office, shoe polish)
fresh paint
cooking or baking aromas – almost any
pipe tobacco (another childhood memory)
pine needles

UPDATE:
Noxzema skin cream
ozone-filled air after a thunderstorm

2) What are your 5 favorite sounds? (This can include a musical instrument or combination of instruments, or a particular performer's or composer's "voice," but not a particular piece of music. That's too complex to be described as "a sound.")
electric guitar chords heard in the distance, calling me
women singing, especially Joan Baez singing “Wild Mountain Thyme” (sorry, had to break that rule)
“Dad…” (not always my favorite when it happens, but someday it will be)
Pacific surf at night
the footsteps of the woman I love

3) What are your 5 favorite sights?
my children’s faces, in person or in photographs
my wife changing her clothes after work
the island of Santorini
the Pacific coast at Big Sur or points north
first sight of Manhattan after being away
Possible sixths: the Southwest desert; a starry sky in West Texas; my garden as seen from my study window

4) What are your 5 favorite tastes?
barbecued ribs -- pork or beef
rare steak -- rib eye or porterhouse
chocolate malts (or vanilla or banana malts)
blueberry, cherry, or banana cream pie
pates and organ meats, especially chopped chicken liver
Possible sixths: pasta, either Italian or Asian; dim sum; chipotle sauces; mango; cherry; cashews
(Really I like almost all tastes, including most vegetables, and it would be simpler to say what tastes I don’t like: mint, strawberry, caramel, butterscotch)

5) What are your 5 favorite touches?
skin
tree bark
pine needle forest floor
good black soil
bubbling water: waterfall or ocean waves

6) What are your 5 favorite kinesthetic sensations?
running (when I could still do it)
fielding or throwing a baseball or Frisbee
carrying a baby in my arms
plunging into cool water on a hot day
clicking into the right body alignment in tai chi
Best of everything (a multisensory sensation: movement, vision, sound, smell): being in a beautiful landscape in waking life or dream

I’d love to read yours on your own blog or my comments section.