Rain Has a Smell

Most people do not notice, but rain has a smell — and not while it is actually raining. The scent arrives just before. It is called petrichor, which I learned from a book, and it means "stone blood" in Greek. That is a dramatic name for something that smells of earth and clean air and the promise of a beginning. I enjoy sitting outside when I detect it approaching and counting how many seconds pass before the first drop falls....