Taking pictures has reached a new level of accessibility. It used to be that you had to remember to bring the camera along, put film in it, find batteries, wind the film, and focus. Now all you do is slip the ever present phone out of your pocket and click. Until recently I didn't even have to unlock the phone, and could catch those shots of children dancing, or hugging a baby doll. Plus it is free. Not like the beaucoup bucks I spent on developing back in the eighties. In those days if I wanted someone else to see a photograph I had to find an envelope, transcribe an address, and shell out for postage. No more. One button sends them to every friend I have. Faster than I can say "Cheese!"

There is an invention book on my shelf that describes the circumstances around such discoveries as chocolate chip cookies, Frisbees, and band aids. It also suggests juicy ideas. It does, however, not have the one I pined for in twenty years of herding children. I wanted there to be a gadget attached to my little kids' shoes, that would beep if they strayed farther than thirty feet away, and would alert me of the direction they escaped to. It would have freed up all those bedraggled mothers at the park to actually finish their sentences to each other while pushing swings. 

Granted the book did not have that particular notion, but it did have the enticing proposal of a means to record not images, nor sound, but smells. Intriguing. Another book of gadgets we have laughed over described an inflatable fire hydrant. You take it with you and plop it where you want to save a parking space, then toss it into your car while you park. Not ethical, I admit, but clever in a Calvin and Hobbes sort of way. Not that he drives. 

There are other moments in the medley of life worth recording. A fleeting surge of tenderness. A warm touch. The tilt of your loved one's head when they see you coming. The softness around your favorite song playing on the radio. 

There are no apparatus yet produced to capture a sentiment, or the sensation of skin. But if you are mindful, your heart can learn to click at just the right time.