The Scent of Rain

I was caught in a spring rain today. It wasn’t a downpour, but a heavy mist/droplet mix that cleared the park and sent folks scrambling for cars. Not me. I was out walking and still had about a mile to go to get home. But that’s okay. The neighborhood quieted and the air was filled with that fabulous spring rain scent. You know what I’m talking about, don’t you? It’s one of my favorite smells. It’s an intoxicating yet gentle perfume announcing new growth and beauty. It seems to be punctuated by frog croaks, a gentle breeze, and hope. It lifts my spirits whenever I smell it. It makes me want to bury my hands in the dirt. For me, it’s fabulous aroma therapy.

Chemically speaking, the smell is called “petrichor”, a term coined by two Australian scientists who studied the phenomenon in the 1960s. Simply put, rain falls, combining plant oils with compounds released by bacteria living in the soil and other chemicals, including ozone. But the word “petrichor” sounds too much like a laboratory for me. It doesn’t convey how so many of us pause to pull in lung-fulls of the scent. Is there anyone who doesn’t like the smell? I wonder how our brains react when we smell it. But I digress. I’ve just enjoyed a spring rain, filled with promise, and I am happy.