Exciting Times Episode 15

So this last week has been full of excitement. On Monday night whilst getting ready for bed, we heard two very load eerie noises that we could not figure out from where they had come. We learned the next morning that they were sonic booms from Royal Air Force Typhoons that were scrambled to collect an unresponsive off-course commercial jet that had flown over Leeds. Normally there are restrictions about breaking the sound barrier, but in this situation that restriction was disregarded. It was the first time I have ever heard a sonic boom from an aircraft. It was something.

Next, we surpassed 15 years of marriage, which was exciting in an entirely different way.

Finally, my wife, on Thursday, got to vote in her first UK election since becoming a citizen. As the UK is a member of the European Union (until June anyway), I had been allowed to vote in local and regional elections, which is what this was. But this is the first time we got to vote together in the UK. Very exciting times indeed.

Photo Credits

RAF Typhoon: WikiMedia

Leeds Ward Map 2015: Wikipedia

Smell: the most spiritual of the senses

Today i am cooking my grandmother’s chicken and rice recipe. It has many fragrant ingredients including saffron, cinnamon, paprika, lemon, garlic, vinegar, and onion, and when preparing it, the essence of my loving and gracious grandmother fills the house. In my mind’s eye, I can see her inviting smile and her kind and gentle eyes.

Smell can drift in and out of our presence, like it is there and it is not there at the same time. It can drift around unseen, unheard, untouched, and it can mysteriously appear out of nowhere. And there is so much weight of presence attached to it that it can bring other invisible, silent, intangible apparitions into existence.

Photo Credits

Smoke: ajbarickman.com