When I left my apartment this morning, I was headed for the bus stop--but I never got there. I was too enticed by the air. It was cold and warm and smelled like Ireland: pregnant with the threat of warm fall rain. So I changed directions. Instead of heading toward the bus stop, I started the 45 minute walk to school. Risking the rain, I enjoyed a walk filled with incredible scenery and rainy day smells.
I would like to retract my statement about the cold snap last week. Instead of killing the green leaves, the cold snap seems to have done something that the princess from the story of Rumplestiltzkin could not do: turn its leaves into red and green tinged gold.
Against the backdrop of wet, black wood...
I have no more words.
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Ah, the smell of rain! I've been enjoying the overcast skies of Nairobi. Dark clouds, accompanied by a cool breeze, is enticing.
Since I missed the chance for the speaker-radio theory...the smell of rain: What you are really smelling comes not from the air, but the ground. Plants release oils that enter the soil and blend with the other earthy odors. These odors are released into the air when the relative humidity at ground level exceeds 75 percent. Moist humid air will transmit odors far better than dry air. (Have you ever tried to smell this same rain in January when the ground is frozen solid? Not a chance, but when the ground and plants are warmer, you can smell something.) In these moist humid conditions we notice these odors more readily. And since rain is so often connected with moist humid air, we tend to associate one with the other. Or, it could just be dragon breath as they push those dark clouds our way!
So... those oils that enter the soil--are they not also bacteria? I've heard that theory before too--that the smell of rain is actually the smell of bacteria rising from the earth. That's a nice idea. I like the word "oil" better.
But even better... I love the idea of dragon breath.
The universe is a green dragon, don'tchaknow.
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