Rain and Unexpected Kindness

My new lake

I wrote not so long ago of the sound and smell of rain as it falls at the end of a long day.

Now the rain has not stopped falling. From drought to flood; so quintessentially Australian. (Yet bushfires still burn around the country, and many areas are still in drought.) I’m currently flooded in. A small causeway crosses the road near the house, and the water is too high for my mini. The creek is tidal, and usually it floods for half a day or so; the worst has been for a few days. Should that happen, I’m contemplating building a raft with empty wine bottles.

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Petrichor, Rain, and My Washing

anneharrison.com.au

I was walking my dog when the rain came. Early evening on a hot day, and suddenly the road is steaming. Although this must happen elsewhere, for me it is as much a part of an Australian summer as is the song of cicadas: the sheer delight of standing in the rain and getting wet as an earthy, musty smell rises from the road.

The word petrichor was termed back in 1964 by two Australian scientists studying the smells of wet weather. As one does. It is a combination of two Greek words: petra – stone – and ichor – the fluid flowing through the veins of the Greek Gods.

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