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I went on a bike ride this morning (side note: the ride is called the People's Ride). Yesterday's rain brought out a lot of smells that had been mummifying. There's the usual post-rain smell of creosote bushes, which is impossible to describe but unforgettable and delicious and pungently sweet. And then there is the smell of my neighborhood, which is a bit like rotten fish. I'm not sure what's causing the neighborhood smell, but it's a tad unpleasant. As we biked past the zoo, there was the incredibly strong smell of animal dung and urine, which, oddly, reminded me of Seattle.

There are alleys in Seattle that reek of piss. One would think that, with all of the rain that Seattle gets, it would smell fresh and clean all of the time. But no. Only parts of Seattle smell fresh and clean. Don't get me wrong--the fresh and clean of Seattle is above and beyond the brief hints of fresh and clean that we get in the desert. I just have to wonder--do more people pee in public in Seattle, or what? Are there just more bums urinating in the alleys? Or does all of the public urine just dry up really fast in Tempe, before it can begin to reek?

Despite all of the air pollution, Tempe doesn't smell that bad most of the time. But maybe that's because my nose is usually a bit stuffy from the particulate matter, and following the rain, it has cleared out as well.

But there's still a bit of a brown cloud lingering over Phoenix.

Date: 2006-06-09 05:57 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] earthlingmike.livejournal.com
Weird. The only smell I've noticed from rain is an earthy smell, kind of like mulch I guess, it's a good smell.

Date: 2006-06-12 04:46 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] rebeccmeister.livejournal.com
I think the smells in Arizona are pretty regional. Up in Seattle, where I grew up, the rain doesn't leave behind much smell--maybe a slightly earthy smell.

In contrast, sometimes when it rains even just a tiny bit here, it starts to smell like rain--all sorts of subtle scents suddenly become airborne. It's almost impossible to describe.

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