Grew up in New Mexico and this is one of my favorite smells in the world.
That and also new pads on a swamp cooler. When you change out the swamp cooler pads every summer -- its usually in the heat, its a pain, and once you get inside the house, flick on the A/C and have a newly fixed up swamp cooler and you feel that cool air and the pine from the pads.... it's a glorious smell as well.
The summer rains were something else. Almost every afternoon at about 4 you get a quick (or not so quick) rain and suddenly the temperature has dropped 10 degrees and it's beautiful outside.
A "swamp cooler" is a cooler made by blowing air over water. The water absorbs heat in order to evaporate, which also increases humidity. I believe the pads are replaceable porous sponge material to increase the surface area exposed to the air.
Grew up in New Mexico and this is one of my favorite smells in the world.
That and also new pads on a swamp cooler. When you change out the swamp cooler pads every summer -- its usually in the heat, its a pain, and once you get inside the house, flick on the A/C and have a newly fixed up swamp cooler and you feel that cool air and the pine from the pads.... it's a glorious smell as well.
The summer rains were something else. Almost every afternoon at about 4 you get a quick (or not so quick) rain and suddenly the temperature has dropped 10 degrees and it's beautiful outside.
What's a swamp cooler and what are swamp cooler pads?
A "swamp cooler" is a cooler made by blowing air over water. The water absorbs heat in order to evaporate, which also increases humidity. I believe the pads are replaceable porous sponge material to increase the surface area exposed to the air.
I love this scent, but my grandma used to hate it, because she somehow was led to believe that it was coming from the sewers.
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Petrichor is just olfactory umami.