There is a Word Desert Denizens Need to Know…Petrichor.

It’s been a long hot Spring! Now finally the Monsoon has arrived.

With the clouds come lightning and thunder…and the oh so welcome RAIN.

And RAIN

And more RAIN!

And then it slowly clears…

And what you have in the aftermath is the smell of fresh washed earth, rocks and trees…

This is the unmistakable smell of rain.

The monsoon season is definitely one of my favorite times of the year.  Rains cool the desert and unlock the smells that are generated from  the surrounding vegetation, rocks,  earth and even asphalt.

The word that describes this smell is Petrichor.

Petrichor (/ˈpɛtrɨkɔər/) is the scent of rain on dry earth, or the scent of dust after rain. The word is constructed from Greek, petros, meaning ‘stone’ + ichor, the fluid that flows in the veins of the gods in Greek mythology. It is defined as “the distinctive scent which accompanies the first rain after a long warm dry spell”

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Petrichor

Enjoy the day!