Five senses, five things.

I seem to be in list mode these days. While I was at the cottage this weekend, I started writing down my preferences according to senses, i.e. my five favourite smells, sights, sounds, tastes and "touches". Lucky you, I decided I'd share. OK, actually, it's just easier to recycle...

Five smells I love:

Freshly cut grass - How can you not love that smell

Mom's baking when I was a kid - The smell of Mom's apple pie or her cinammon buns was to die for.

The ocean - When we arrived in Corpus Christi and I opened the car window, the ocean smell hit me like a ton of bricks. I love that smell with a passion, and unfortunately I don't get to smell it often enough.

Cats - They smell so lovely, sort of sweetish and... well, it's hard to describe - odours usually are, but burying my face in a cat's belly and inhaling is one of my favourite things. If the cat is cooperating of course. Otherwise, unhappiness can result rather quickly.

New books - Cracking open a brand new book and sniffing it. That odour of ink and paper and glue... Mmmmmmmmmmmm

Asia - Getting off a plane in Nepal or Vietnam or Indonesia... the air just smells different there, different and wonderful and full of possibility. Oops that's six isn't it...

Five sights I love

The ocean - Always. I can't get enough of it and unfortunately I really don't get it often enough.

The sky - The blue of a summer sky contrasted against the green of the leaves. The sky in Montana which just seems so huge somehow. The sky in Nepal which is a blue I've neve seen anywhere else

Fall leaves up at the cottage - It doesn't last long, but when you manage to be there those four or five days when the leaves are at their peak. When it's the perfect year with not too much rain or wind... wow.

The desert - Any desert. I love the look of it, I love the feel of it, I feel comfortable in the desert. Especially the Sonoran Desert in Arizona. First time I went there, I felt as if I had come home.

Birds at the feeders - or anywhere else for that matter. They are beautiful animals, endlessly entertaining and fascinating.

Five tastes that make me happy

Shish Taouk - Chicken lebanese style. The marinade is so delicious, my mouth is watering just thinking of it. I think I'll get myself a shish taouk sandwich for lunch.

Tea - I love tea. Kusmi's Russian Morning no 24 blend is liquid happiness. Yes indeed it is.

Tomatos - Fresh tomatos, real in-season tomatos. Tomatos are the perfect fruit. Really they are. I love the taste of tomatos so much that I'll even eat them out of season when they're hard enough that you can sit on them and they'll stay intact. Then you cut them in two, put them on a baking sheet, sprinkle them with garlic, bread crumbs, dried herbs and bake them in the oven for about 1/2 hour. Delicious!

Chocolate - OK, not very original, but there you go.

Good wine - A bottle of Caymus's Conundrum with sushi? Heaven, pure and simple.

Five sounds I love

The ocean - Are you catching on to a certain theme here? Actually the ocean and water in general. Whether it's crashing waves or babbling brooks (how's that for clichéd expressions) it's all good. I love the sound of water.

Bamboo windchimes - We have bamboo windchimes at the cottage and in town. I love the sound of them. Deep, woody, simply lovely. I love my other metal windchime too. Mr. Jazz gave it to me many years ago, and it is tuned to a Japanese scale. Unlike the bamboo chime though, when it gets quite windy the sound becomes really annoying.

The wind - Whether it's just a breeze ruffling the trees or a huge windstorm, I never tire of it.

Birds - The sound of their wings, the sound of their song, the sound of them in general.

Laughter - Well, how can you not love the sound of laughter? Especially a child's. When they laugh it's not just their mouth, it's their whole bodies laughing along.

Oh, and even if I'm going over my limit, I can't leave out the sound of a cat's purr.

Five things I love to touch

Rocks/Stones - I have a rock fetish. I collect stones without really realizing it. I'll put my hand in my pocket and there will be a stone in it and I'll have no idea where I picked it up. I pick up stones and tend to rub them between my thumb and fingers for no reason I understand except that I love the texture and hardness of them.

Cats - Soft soft soft. The complete opposite of a stone.

Uncooked rice - Or sunflower seeds or anything of that nature where I can stuff my hands into it and let it run through my fingers. Sand fits the category as do dried beans...

Dirt - I don't like to garden, so I don't often get my hands into dirt, but the few times I've repotted the few plants I didn't kill, I loved the feeling.

Tweed - and other nubby textury types of fabric. I'm all for texture...

Of course, Mr. Jazz makes it into all of those categories. But that would've been too easy. And obviously I have tons more favourites. I did notice though that finding favourite smells was much easier than tastes or "touches". Perhaps my sense of smell is more important to me in some way than others.

How about you? Anyone willing to try this?