Have you ever smelled that distinctive, sweet aroma that lingers after it rains? Petrichor. I love the way the word sounds. The word is constructed from Greek, petra, meaning stone + ichor, the fluid that flows in the veins of the gods in Greek mythology.
Yesterday morning we had our first thunderstorm of the season. I was still at home getting ready for work when I heard the first claps of thunder. The morning sky darkened until it looked as though it was night again. I wanted nothing more than to lie in bed while the rain pelted the windows and the lightning lit up the sky. There’s something about the beauty and power of a storm that I love.
The inner geek in me finds this fascinating: Researchers at MIT might have found where petrichor comes from. When a raindrop hits a porous surface, it traps tiny air bubbles at the point of contact, which then float to the surface in a fizz of aerosols. The researchers suspect that in natural environments, aerosols may carry aromatic elements (along with bacteria and viruses stored in soil) and release that distinctive smell.
I took this photo with my iPhone through my car window. Rainy mornings are beautiful too.
“Some people feel the rain. Others just get wet.”
— Bob Marley
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