Sense-ability

None, zero, zip, nada or as they say here in Tanzania...hamna!

That is the extent of our chances of survival if we as humans had to solely depend on our senses. We are terrible at hearing (and much more so at listening!) and our eyesight is directly proportional to the availability of light! 

These are the main senses required for avoiding danger!

Having said that, there is something which our most powerful sense is EXTREMELY sensitive to. Something so primal to each and everyone of us that despite centuries of urbanised existence we can detect as low a concentration as 10 parts per trillion!

That very earthy aroma which invades your nostrils during a rainstorm post a long warm dry spell, is unmistakeable! Petrichor is the technical term used for the “smell of rain” and it is rather complex.

There are two main ingredients which contribute to the all-too familiar scent of wet soil.

The first is an oil exuded by plants and is then absorbed particularly in clayey soils only to be dissolved and released as an aerosol with the fall of the first rains.

The second is called Geosmin and it is a metabolic byproduct of a bacteria ubiquitously found in soil.

Mix these two and the result...an intoxicating aroma which quickens the pulse, make grown men jump for joy, throw caution to the wind and just run around in the rain as if possessed! Or maybe that’s just me....

Lightning strikes also contribute the sweetly pungent smell of ozone by splitting the nitrogen and oxygen molecules into separate atoms. 

Another phenomenon associated with rainstorms and lightning are rainbows!

May you pay particular attention to your nose when next you experience the first rains of the season! Also note how your heart-rate involuntarily speeds up and a powerful sense of well-being suddenly floods through your whole psyche.

Enjoy!

Yours in Awareness,