pe·tri·chor ˈpe-trə-ˌkȯri: a distinctive, earthy, usually pleasant odor that is associated with rainfall especially when following a warm, dry period and that arises from a combination of volatile plant oils and geosmin released from the soil into the air and by ozone carried by downdrafts.
The smell of the forest today was wonderful….earthy, damp, it’s the smell of plants breathing deeply of the cool moisture after a long dry stretch of weather that has seen fires popping up everywhere. It will be short-lived, unfortunately, but it’s still welcome and may help some of the fire efforts in the places it fell.
