Essay #3 (revised)

The day is too hot for the beginning of summer. Stuffy weather rose over picturesque surroundings by occupying every tiny place. The sky is too dark over clouds that cannot be lit by natural sun rays. In some moments, it seems that nature has died down. Besides, the birds which appeared to be cheerful before passed out of sight to their far away nests.  I don’t love to walk when it is not nice outside, but it is beautiful when it is going to rain. Also I particularly love the smell of rain. What does rain smell like? Many poems in my native Farsi language are devoted to that particular fragrance. I like the smell of approaching rain and also the first two minutes of raining when it clashes with asphalt. It is an incredible joy to experience. The smell of approaching rain fills the air with fresh and fascinating, cool and bright smell. I am outside any time when it is going to rain with the intention to delight the tremendous scent which lasts only several minute. Several minute happiness of smell of sky s roar mixed with calmness of nature. I associate the aroma of approaching rain with the foretaste of crispness of spring coolness. It brings support in future successes for people like me who appreciate the freshness of the rain’s cool drops which juice both mentally and physically. However, it could accompany with old sad memories of past for those who value only the sun as a source of good mood.  The Robert Henson, just like me, was interested in the smell of approaching rain and wrote much about it in his article Smells like rain . He remarks:  It s not an easy aroma to describe. Some consider it fresh and earthy; others find it acrid. On the streets of Manhattan, it summons up the soles of shoes and the rubber of automobile tires. On a Kentucky farm, it might hold traces of fresh-cut hay, newly tilled earth, or (whew) fertilizer.  I was attracted by the way he described the difference between the smell of approaching rain in countryside and cities as I had experienced it myself. In childhood I got used to visit my grandmother who had been living in a village. The rains in villages vary much from city ones. As a rule, the rain there is more frequent and stronger than in a city. During the time when I spent my holidays in village I frequently was losing my feelings that appear as a result of smell of rain that I experienced regularly in a city since the rain falls became habitual process in a village.
           Well, I ask myself frequently: Why approaching rain smells like that? Is there any biological reason? I decided to investigate in more details the natural character of rain’s aroma. Later I found such data in an article that was hard to believe. Actually, it stated that the smell of approaching rain is the case of bacteria. Oh! Could it be true that my favorite smell of approaching rain is caused by some bacteria? I used to perceive it as something extraordinary and indescribable. Indeed I read the following in this article:  
The earthy smell which precedes rainy weather is probably due to volatile products of streptomycete metabolism . . . . Streptomycetes are a member of the acrinomycete family of bacteria. Moreover, when we lived in Arizona, you could always tell when a gust front from a nearby thunderstorm arrived by the smell of it. That rain is coming odor gets some desert dwellers very excited.    Geoff Lewen, a New Jersey physicist  
            Simultaneously, it was interesting to learn the attitude of perfumers to the smell of rain. Geraldine O Keefe, for example, a New Jersey perfumer, commented that each person has his own interpretation of how rain smells. It is a translation of a totally emotional experience. She suggests that after rain, the smell of blacktop and cement may not seem very pleasant, but to some people, it could be very comforting. 
               Furthermore, I found out that “not all perfumers care about duplicating the smell of rain. Many traditional lines of fragrance are “keyed more toward sexual allure than environmental awareness”. They consider that an earthy, rainy scent is likely to be made from natural ingredients and might be found at a health food store rather than a department store”. (Smells like rain   Henson, Robert)   Although all the information I found was not that inspiring I still did not change my mind and attitude to the pleasant smell of approaching rain. When I go outside to enjoy it, I try to forget that it comes from bacteria, and instead make an effort to represent it as an aroma of unearthly bliss. This is a very pleasant feeling.