The First Time

[€uroMeinke]

I’m not sure what I’d really like to re-experience for the first time. I mean most of the things that come to mind I still continue to enjoy as fond memories. And some I have to wonder if by being memories they are somewhat softened and enhanced – so that the actual re-experiencing might prove disappointing?

There are plenty of “firsts” I have yet to experience, the city of Prague, or Istanbul, my first book being published (heh, or even written), my first trip into space, or my first million. To be sure, I’ve had some awesome firsts – the plane door opening in Iquitos flooding the cabin with the jungles dense vegetative air, Walking East Berlin after the wall had fallen and seeing a place frozen in time.

But for me, the best firsts were always unexpected and accidental - ones that surprised me – the sounds of the jungle, the majesty of the Yosemite Valley as you emerge from the tunnel, the taste of home made pesto having never had pesto before, the softness of another’s pubic hair, the passionate insanity of first love. They were all spectacular, and I don’t feel any lacking for only experiencing them for the first time once, because even as I write and remember, I feel I’ve just experienced them again.