Sensible sensations for the sensualist in us all

My brilliant blogger buddy (behold, alliteration) Jazz offered a list the other day in which she outlined all the elements that appealed to her five senses, as in her favorite smells, sights, sounds, tastes and "touches". She also threw down her diamond-studded gauntlet (God, that glvoe must be uncomfortable) to anybody who wanted to share their sensory titillations. I bit. Both because I love the word titillation, and because it was something that seemed a bit of a challenge. I am happy she restricted her list to the five senses and didn’t go into ESP realms, because that would have been too challenging. So, here goes:

Five smells I love:

Freshly cut grass – Jazz cited that one, and I can only concur. It’s fresh, it’s rural, and somehow it puts me in touch with an earlier time in my life. I have no idea why that is so, but it does. What applies to freshly cut grass also applies to freshly-mown hay, because that reminds me of the summer I worked on a farm when I was about 14.

Homemade bread just out of the oven -- Reminds me of my grandmother’s kitchen when I was a child. She was of that generation that baked bread in a big old wood stove, virtually on a daily basis.

Creosote – Maybe that seems weird, but it is the smell of wharfs and pilings and it just smells like summer days when fishing was beckoning and a boat was about to be unmoored for an adventure. I still love wandering around marinas and fisherman’s wharves.

My wife’s hair – It always smells fresh and shampooed and I love smelling it either on her or on her pillow. If that’s TMI, sorry for violating my own principles.

Hawaii – Hawaii has a flowery fragrance that hits one, right along with the heat and humidity when one steps off the plane at Honolulu. When I get a whiff of that, I know I am back in my spiritual home and I feel ‘well’ right down to my toes.

Sweet peas – Cut sweet peas fill a room with a brilliant fragrance that must surpass even the rose. It lingers until the little flowers have faded and turned into crepe paper.

Fresh coffee – Nothing more needs to be said, other than if it’s fresh coffee combined with frying bacon fragrance on a Sunday morning. We may not have heaven on earth, but at least God gives us little hints.

Five sights I love

The Comox Glacier – I open the drapes on a clear morning and my eye is immediately drawn towards this stunning backdrop that is known as Queneesh (the great white whale) in the local Coast Salish language. It’s been there for eternity though, while refusing to accede to the so-called wisdom of Al Gore, I will concede that the ice-cap has receded since I came to the area.

Sunset on the open Pacific – There is something about a limitless expanse of ocean when the sun finishes its work for the day. I have felt at peace with the world looking at sunsets on the northern California coast, Hawaii and the Cook Islands

Coconut Palms -- I have a palm tree in my front yard. It is a rather handsome windmill palm and I’m very fond of it. But, it’s not a coconut palm. Coconut Palms won’t grow anywhere but tropical and subtropical climes. So, I know that if I hear a coconut palm rustling, and if I can look up its long, curving, hurricane-defying trunk, then I am somewhere very nice.

The desert – This one was chosen by Jazz, and I just have to go along with her on it. Any desert will do, provided it has cactuses, and roadrunners and the dry, dry fragrance that is endemic. We spent a wonderful day once at Joshua Tree National Park, right in the Mojave, and I’m longing to go back.

Children at play – By this one, I mean very tiny children; no more than three, or so. I love to hear their laughter, I love to see their sheer exuberance, and I revel in their innocent play, not yet bogged down with the cares of the world. Gives me hope for the future.

Five tastes

Seafood – In the brilliant, and much lamented comic strip, Calvin and Hobbes, that wise stuffed tiger once opined that the one thing that made life worthwhile was seafood. I’m in accord, be it lobster, prawns, crab, oysters, clam chowder (only New England, thank you very much), and anything else in the fruits de mer category.

Watermelon - It has to be obscenely sweet and so crisp that it snaps when bitten. Otherwise, I am not interested. But, I can honestly say that a primo chunk of watermelon is arguably my favorite fruit.

Corn – Freshly grown sweetcorn, only a few minutes from harvest, tender and inviting and absolutely slathered in artery challenging butter (never-ever margarine) and salt is mightily close to an orgasmic eating experience

Turkey sandwiches – I’m not so much on a roast turkey dinner, but that next day sandwich, on white or sourdough, with stuffing and mayonnaise beats the Thanksgiving Dinner hollow in terms of appeal to me.

Cognac - I no longer drink, which is probably a good thing. But, I still recall with sweet nostalgia the warming fragrance of a fine vintage cognac that cost as much as the GDP of Dubai but, somehow, was worth it at the time.

Homemade bread toast and peanut butter - It has to be natural, unadulterated PB (OK, I’ll admit I prefer salted) and the toast must be piping hot, and it has to drip. I tossed up between fresh blueberry flapjacks and this one and the PB toast won.

Five sounds I love

Elgar’s Cello Concerto - Elgar’s last notable work and it can, almost literally, bring me to tears because somewhere within it tugs at an emotion that has never truly revealed itself to me.

Layla – Eric Clapton’s plaintive love song to Patti Boyd is virtually magnificent as a testament to adoration of the unattainable (at that time, since she was his best friend’s wife).Of course, you know the tale. Eventually he got her, and then decided he didn’t want her. Funny how life can work. But, the best is the original Derek and the Dominoes (also featuring the late and brilliant Duane Allman) version.

Trains – When we were in Grenoble last fall our hotel was only a few hundred yards from the railway station. I loved the sound of the trains coming and going, and it took me back to childhood when I’d hear the long and lonely whistle of the trains when the passed in the night. The clickety-clack when I’m on the train works for me, too.

My late aunt’s voice – It was a wonderfully husky sound that sounded very reminiscent of actress Suzanne Pleshette. She had a laugh that was bawdy and joyous and she was such a cool woman with so much joie de vivre that I still cannot believe she was my father’s sister. Guess Aunt Freda got all the ‘cool’ genes. I miss her a great deal.

Ezio Pinza's voice – My parents had the album of the original Broadway production of South Pacific, and to hear Pinza sing ‘This Nearly Was Mine’ is bound to mist you up.

Five things I love to touch

A fellow could get all erotic and sensual about this category but, in a spirit of remarkable restraint I’ll avoid musings on silks and other exotic fabrics not to mention anatomical bits and pieces and stick more to the ‘suitable for audiences of all ages.’

Keyboards – I have been writing for so long that I actually regale in the feel of a keyboad beneath my fingertips. Writing for me, whiter it’s coming well or badly, is a bit of a drug and I can go through withdrawal if away for too long. Some people write with a pen or pencil. For me it must be a keyboard thing or my creative muse flees.

Soft leather automotive upholstery – The feel of the seats on a high end car (not to mention the fragrance) is quite wonderful. My car, by the way, doesn’t have soft leather seats. Wish it did.

Corduroy – I don’t particularly like the feel of corduroy when I’m wearing such trousers, and the ‘zippy’ noise they make when walking takes one back to every member of the 'projectionists' club' one knew in school, but the texture of the fabric under the fingers is kind of cool.

Beach sand – It must be white or golden and very fine to really work, but running dry sand through the fingers is rather sensual. .

Bubble wrap – All God’s children love bubble wrap. What more is there to say? I could include Velcro in the same category.

In all those categories of sensual and sensory sensations there is one very important omission which was omitted for the sake of propriety, but absolutely all categories apply in that realm, too. Nuff sed.

Give it a try. It’s kind of fun.