I work at Sun Microsystems.
The opinions expressed here are my own,
and neither Sun nor any other party necessarily
agrees with them.
It’s different.
It doesn’t sound the same indoors because there are windows open, you can hear drops in the downspouts and gurgles in the evestroughs. Today an unsteady drip from a porch staircase railing was hitting hollow tin, it sounded like John Cage.
It doesn’t smell the same. I spent most of my youth in Lebanon, and it doesn’t rain there between April-ish and October-ish. The first fall rainstorm is a really big deal, and the smell, all those months of dust suddenly wet, I’ll never forget it. Pacific-northwest summer rain has a bit of that.
It doesn’t look the same because there’s more light and colour behind the drops; now the first red roses and rhododendrons are starting their statements.
It doesn’t feel the same because after the dark months you don’t want to wear anything heavy or impermeable, so you get wet.
And smile.
Comment feed for ongoing:
From: bbum (May 19 2008, at 23:39)
I love the smell of rain and the distinctly different textures of rain throughout the seasons.
Interesting factoid; the "crisp clean fresh spring rain" smell is largely due to the massive bloom of spores from various fungus and other spore bearing growths that typically occur after a sudden burst of moisture in the cool air of spring.
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From: Stephen Howard (May 20 2008, at 05:26)
Thanks for the reflection. An unusual sort of entry to show up in my feed reader, and it was a lovely way to start my morning.
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From: Max Erickson (May 20 2008, at 07:37)
Along the line of the smell of rain:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Petrichor
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From: Elaine (May 20 2008, at 09:00)
And the *angle* of the light is different, too. The sun high up in the sky (somewhere behind all those clouds) making the air brighter, less gloomy. It is lovely.
Also, I will have to find a way to use "petrichor" in conversation sometime soon!
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From: Colin Barrett (May 22 2008, at 18:27)
One thing I absolutely miss from my childhood in Hawaii are the sunshowers -- those delightful moments when it lightly drizzles with the sun shining brilliantly.
I also miss seeing a sheet of rain come down from Manoa valley and about five minutes later the air is full of warm clean droplets.
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