3:36 p.m., Vallée-aux-Loups Arboretum.

Dancing at the foot of a sequoia. The beauty of these trees grabs me every time. The softness of their bark and that characteristic scent of incense and resin always gives me the same shock. As much as I expect when I approach the skin of my face, it is a primary wonder. The amazing thing is that one of my cats, which is the same color as this bark, has the exact same scent. I cannot explain this olfactory-chromatic correspondence to myself. It’s part of the inexplicable beauty of the world.