One aspect of today’s world which could benefit from some adjustment, is the pace at which we consume our lives. Faster, faster, ever faster. Even my dog does it. I give him a piece of scrap from the table. He doesn’t even chew it. His jaw snaps open and shut, only open for the split second that the gravity-powered morsel is exactly in front of his trap. The swallow occurs simultaneously with the jaw snapping shut. He certainly can’t taste it. It doesn’t register in his eyes or his body language that something pleasurable has happened. He’s like the old sword-swallowers. I don’t even think it hits his tongue. There is no enjoyment, because there is no savoring. There is no chewing, no tasting, no rolling it around in the mouth. There is no sense of heaviness, richness, or heat. There is only the swallow. Humans do the same thing. The email bings and...