Questions of Love

I love my Land Cruiser.
I love my dog.
I love my children.
I love my wife.
I love my parents.
I love the outdoors.

Love:

• Noun: an intense feeling of deep affection.
• Verb: feel a deep romantic or sexual attachment to someone.

How do we know if we are truly in "love?" Is it binary, on or off? Are there degrees? Seven degrees to Bacon?

How do we measure "love?" Is it absolute or relative? Do we use subjective or objective criteria? What's the baseline to measure? What's the interval? Do we benchmark others? Do we compare and contrast the "now" with the "then"? Is love here today and gone tomorrow? What about loving the person but not the behavior? Or inaction?

I love the burger at Gold Nugget. I Love my wife. Yet my wife has a physiological impact not even approached by a good burger. How can I "love" both?

How is love affected by time, proximity, paternal or maternal relation, shared activities?

I am not a philosopher, maybe it's best to not worry about definitions or contemplations. Time to quit the mental gymnastics and go have a beer.