Three cheers to those times in life when you’re struck by universal magic in one of your body’s sensation centers. I was doing school drop off this am, heading down the hill from our house towards Golden Gate Park. The street we were driving upon was still blanketed in darkness, but I looked ahead and could see the observation tower of the DeYoung illuminated by morning sun beams. Now, I know I am the type who will hype a sunrise/sunset situation with all of the good will in my body. But, even so, this one was as the kids would say circa 2014: EPIC.

In this moment… just the length of time it takes to snap your fingers… my mind was flooded with memories of times I’d felt a similar sense of awe:

• when balsamic vinegar/aged soy/miso/pancetta/Mt Tam triple creme/old fashioned bitters/LFCC Atta Girl/Lo-Fi vermouth/shortbread/toasted sesame oil first touched my tastebuds

• the smell of our baby’s head after a nap

• when Tupac told me stories of coastal streets I’d never known

• the electric moment her hand first held mine

• our puppies when they’d shake off the sleepies with a long yawn +a stretch

• floating across the other dimension that is the sunlit blue grotto, followed by sipping ice cold limoncello under the hot Italian sun

• breathing in fresh air at the dawn summit of Mount Whitney

• crispy sausage still piping hot from the coals of a Patagonian fire

• my wife’s voice whispering anything in my ear

• that “secret” beach in Hawaii under the big rock, with ten very dear friends

• live music, when I have space to turn in a circle and sway like the middle-aged lover I am

And these snaps of life magic, in a visual format: