The Tuttle Creek Wildlife Area of Kansas Flint Hills tunefully dipped herself into a pool of gorgeous mid-afternoon sunlight. Ubiquitous exquisiteness hushed my mind and I suddenly felt abnormally connected to peculiar moments in Haruki Murakami’s short story A Perfect Day for Kangaroo.

A perfect day for conversations with fluffy cotton candy clouds, I mumbled.

Walking aimlessly in this area was like a good chat with the quintessential beauty of nature. I forgot all about my-usual-knotty-worries and my-usual-uninteresting-self and silently intoned with Patti Cathcart’s cozy and robust singing voice in my head. Patti's voice transmuted Claire Hamill’s lyric of Takes My Breath Away, released in Tuck & Patti's 1988 classic album Tears of Joy, into something aptly magical.

Sometimes it amazes me, how strong the power of love can be, and sometimes you just take my breath away. You've watched my love grow like a child, sometimes gentle and sometimes wild, and sometimes you just take my breath away.