Karin

Rain in the desert is one of my absolute favorite smells...
It brings out the natural scent of the desert plants .... it's just magical
to me ... and far too rare lately.

Karin in Phoenix




>Just a few hours after a rain in our part of the
>country is when things tend to smell the worst.
>Heavily organically fertilized mud in the heat.....

>Sharon of the Swamp

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In a message dated 8/28/02 8:43:40 AM, curtkar@... writes:

<< Rain in the desert is one of my absolute favorite smells...
It brings out the natural scent of the desert plants .... it's just magical
to me ... and far too rare lately. >>

I smells really good at my house, and we're even in town. Something about
the ionization of the air makes everything feel different too.

I think that effect needs a desert to work.

One thing that surprised me was that in Pennsylvania when I was camping there
(at Pennsic war, years back) the rain was warm. In New Mexico, rain is
always cold. I guess it's the altitude of the clouds, because even when it
hits the ground it's still a mile above sea level, and the clouds in
Pennsylvania were low and we were maybe at 400 feet or something (I don't
know).

I was used to rain drops being totally distinct from the air around them,
too, and some of that sea level rain, like in England, is more like a drippy
mist than the rain I had learned to recognize as rain.

Sandra

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On Wed, 28 Aug 2002 09:17:49 -0700 "Karin" <curtkar@...> writes:
> Rain in the desert is one of my absolute favorite smells...
> It brings out the natural scent of the desert plants .... it's just
> magical to me ... and far too rare lately.
>
We only had one monsoon-y day during the whole week we spent in Tucson,
and even that one was pretty mild :-( I was kinda bummed. We were there
on my mom's birthday, August 17, and I know that last year it poured
buckets, with lightning and thunder and winds so strong they blew the
canoe off the roof (not a good place to store a canoe). This year it was
bright and sunny and 105 at least.

Rain in the desert smells like creosote to me, it's a wonderful fresh,
clean smell...

Dar

Nancy Wooton

on 8/28/02 10:42 AM, freeform@... at freeform@... wrote:

> Rain in the desert smells like creosote to me, it's a wonderful fresh,
> clean smell...

Having grown up in the Orange County, CA 'burbs, rain on asphalt is my
rain-smell memory. It reminds me of elementary school blacktop: depressing
gray days spent huddled under the overhang outside the classroom door. I
liked the smell, though, if it meant staying indoors at home, usually
reading and not being bugged by anybody <g>

Nancy

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In a message dated 8/28/02 12:17:26 PM, ikonstitcher@... writes:

<< Having grown up in the Orange County, CA 'burbs, rain on asphalt is my
rain-smell memory. It reminds me of elementary school blacktop: depressing
gray days spent huddled under the overhang outside the classroom door. I
liked the smell, though, if it meant staying indoors at home, usually
reading and not being bugged by anybody <g>
>>

I like that smell too. I don't know what it is. Childhood probably. But
rain on a grocery-store parking lot, all asphalt with gas and oil spots,
somehow still smells good when it rains in northern New Mexico.

Sandra

Karin

> >
> We only had one monsoon-y day during the whole week we spent in Tucson,
> and even that one was pretty mild :-( I was kinda bummed. We were there
> on my mom's birthday, August 17, and I know that last year it poured
> buckets, with lightning and thunder and winds so strong they blew the
> canoe off the roof (not a good place to store a canoe). This year it was
> bright and sunny and 105 at least.

So you're already back in CA! Sorry I missed you Dar. We were out of town
then.


> Rain in the desert smells like creosote to me, it's a wonderful fresh,
> clean smell...
>
> Dar


Yes, I think the main smell here when it rains is creosote. It's all over
town and in the city, not only in the desert, so that smell comes out
whenever it rains. We have a creosote bush in the backyard and even if I
water it with the hose, it's that same "rain" smell.

Just curious, Dar. Why did Rain (Casey) change her name to Rain? Was it
because she liked the smell or the way she felt whenever it rained - or
because she saw someone else with the name and just decided she liked it?
It's a cool name and I just love whenever it rains!

Karin

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On Wed, 28 Aug 2002 13:02:00 -0700 "Karin" <curtkar@...> writes:
> So you're already back in CA! Sorry I missed you Dar. We were out of
> town
> then.

Yeah, I remembered that you were going to be gone, Texas I think? We'll
shoot for December!
>
> We have a creosote bush in the backyard and even if I
> water it with the hose, it's that same "rain" smell.

I miss that smell... wonder if creosote would grow out here?
>
> Just curious, Dar. Why did Rain (Casey) change her name to Rain? Was
it
> because she liked the smell or the way she felt whenever it rained -
or
> because she saw someone else with the name and just decided she liked
it?
> It's a cool name and I just love whenever it rains!

Rain is actually Raina Prudence Quinlan. I had always wanted her to be
named Acacia Rain, mostly for a friend of mine named Reana who died
shortly before my Rain was born, but her dad won out and she was Acacia
Erin. So, during some conversation when she was saying she didn't like
her name, I told her that Rain has been a strong contender for her middle
name, and she decided that would have been better. She also likes the
rain....

Prudence, of course, is for the Beatles song.

Dar

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In a message dated 8/28/02 1:17:26 PM Central Daylight Time,
ikonstitcher@... writes:


> Having grown up in the Orange County, CA 'burbs, rain on asphalt is my
> rain-smell memory

The other day, the kids and I were at McDonalds. There was a new blacktop
parking lot and some of the asphalt had gotten on the landscaping timbers. It
was really hot out, and it had just briefly rained. I was instantly whisked
away to Alaska, my Dad, and the docks down on the job-site. MAN! What a
memory! (Yep, my Dad was one of those bad oil men. <g>)

Speaking of smells, I can smell snow. When the sky turns that soft lead
color, the whole world goes quiet, and there is this sharpness hanging in the
air. I love it.
~Nancy


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Karin

Thanks for the explanation to my nosy question!
An interesting story... :-)

Karin


>
> Rain is actually Raina Prudence Quinlan. I had always wanted her to be
> named Acacia Rain, mostly for a friend of mine named Reana who died
> shortly before my Rain was born, but her dad won out and she was Acacia
> Erin. So, during some conversation when she was saying she didn't like
> her name, I told her that Rain has been a strong contender for her middle
> name, and she decided that would have been better. She also likes the
> rain....
>
> Prudence, of course, is for the Beatles song.
>
> Dar

Alicia Knight

I love the smell of rain in the desert too -- the sagebrush is like
perfume. I live in Virginia now, but I can still sometimes conjur that
heady aroma -- and picture the wide beautiful desert sky in a storm.

Thanks for the mental vacation!

Alicia

Karin wrote:

> Rain in the desert is one of my absolute favorite smells...
> It brings out the natural scent of the desert plants .... it's just
> magical
> to me ... and far too rare lately.
>
> Karin in Phoenix
>

Shyrley

On 29 Aug 02, at 10:08, Alicia Knight wrote:

> I love the smell of rain in the desert too -- the sagebrush is like
> perfume. I live in Virginia now, but I can still sometimes conjur
> that heady aroma -- and picture the wide beautiful desert sky in a
> storm.
>
> Thanks for the mental vacation!
>
> Alicia
>
I'm sure I've asked this before, but whereabouts in Virginia are you?

Shyrley


"You laugh at me because I'm different. I laugh at you because you are all the same."

Alicia Knight

Hi Shyrley! -- I'm just down the road from you -- in the
Fredericksburg area. Are there any other VA unschoolers on this list?
~ Alicia


Shyrley wrote:

> On 29 Aug 02, at 10:08, Alicia Knight wrote:
>
> > I love the smell of rain in the desert too -- the sagebrush is like
> > perfume. I live in Virginia now, but I can still sometimes conjur
> > that heady aroma -- and picture the wide beautiful desert sky in a
> > storm.
> >
> > Thanks for the mental vacation!
> >
> > Alicia
> >
> I'm sure I've asked this before, but whereabouts in Virginia are you?
>
> Shyrley
>
>
> "You laugh at me because I'm different. I laugh at you because you are
> all the same."
>
>
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[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]