Petrichor...

Petrichor...I would be surprised if anyone was familiar with this word. Paul, my good friend from South Dakota, sends me the "Word of the Day" every day and I got this one a few years ago. According to Wikipedia:

Petrichor (pronounced /ˈpɛtrɨkər/ ; from Greek petros "stone" + ichor"the fluid that is supposed to flow in the veins of the gods in Greek mythology") is the name of the scent of rain on dry earth.

The term was coined in 1964 by two Australian researchers, Bear and Thomas, for an article in the journal Nature. In the article, the authors describe how the smell derives from an oil exuded by certain plants during dry periods, whereupon it is adsorbed by clay-based soils and rocks. During rain, the oil is released into the air along with another compound, geosmin, producing the distinctive scent. In a follow-up paper, Bear and Thomas (1965) showed that the oil retards seed germination and early plant growth.

The scent is generally regarded as pleasant and refreshing, and is one of the most frequently cited "favorite smells". In desert regions, the smell is especially strong during the first rain after a long dry spell. The oil yielding the scent can be collected from rocks and concentrated to produce perfume; however, it has yet to be synthesized, perhaps due to its complexity. It is composed of more than fifty distinct chemical substances.

In simple terms, "petrichor" is that wonderful smell that comes when it rains...everyone knows it...and laundry detergent companies have tried to duplicate it. I tried looking it up in the dictionary today...it's not there. So it's not a well-known word.

Especially in Texas. I am SOOOO missing rain. It's either feast or famine here. We don't get rain for many months...then we'll get a deluge for a couple days...then another six to nine months of drought. I have spent most of my life in the midwest where we would have regular thunderstorms. Not too many...not too few. Just the right amount.

We haven't had a good rain in Texas for...well...it seems like forever...and I miss it. The sound of the raindrops on the roof...and that wonderful aroma of petrichor.

I guess I'll have to be satisfied with this video...but between you and me, it just doesn't cut it...cuz there ain't no petrichor included with the video. :-(

Let's go furniture shopping!!

Things are moving along with the sale of the house. I haven't posted much about it because you never know what's going to happen. The buyers did an appraisal on Friday and my agent called saying things are going forward. But I always think to myself, it's not over until the...


I've decided that if everything goes according to plan, I will just rent an apartment until I decide what and where I want to buy. It will actually be a relief to rent for awhile and not have to worry about a lawn from hell and home improvement. I am very tired of being Ms. Bob Vila...at least for now. I'm sure I will get to the point where I will want to put my stamp on something again. So, in the meantime, there are lots of apartment complexes in San Marcos and I thought it would be nice to get one with a pool and a gym so I can do some relaxing for a change.

I am giving most of my furniture to my sons and am getting rid of the rest of it because I am tired of moving it around the country. I have moved over 30 times in my life and it's getting old. But now I will need to get a few new items when I move. So I went furniture shopping today, just to get an idea of what's out there and how much everything costs. I know that I want to keep things contemporary and low key...clean lines and no frills. I took my camera with me and took some shots of what I saw today.

I started out with neutral colors. I liked this one but wasn't too sure about the padded covering over the arms. I think I'd like a cleaner look.

Like this one. Put some colorful throw pillows on there to liven it up a bit.

Here's another one. Kind of a corduroy fabric...and I like the fact that there are no big pillows for the back which can get messy looking.

This one has the big separate pillows along the back, but I like the look.

What do you think about this one?

An elk futon. Hahahahaha! I was showing my son, Jared, these pictures and he said, "You're kidding me, right?" Yes, Jared...it was a joke. (He was very relieved.)

What about this one?? A couch playground. I love the thought of young children throwing those ball pillows all over the house. And I think you could probably end up losing a couple of those children in those cracks between the sections.

"Honey, have you seen Timmy lately??"

"No, dear, I thought you were watching him."

"Well, I thought I heard some muffled screams earlier...oh, my God...the couch!"

Parents with young children should probably think twice about this choice.

So then we get into different sofa colors. What do you think about the red family? I think it looks nice, but is it something you could get tired of?

I've never had a red couch before.

This one is WAY too fancy for me...don't like all the scroll work in the wood.

And red...in leather. Hmmm...kind of looks like it belongs in a bus or train depot...or a doctor's office.

And here we have some in green. I actually thought they were very nice. And they were very comfortable. I showed them to Jared. He said, "It's a nice couch...but it's green."

"What about this one?" I asked.

"It's nice too. But it's green," he said.

Growing frustrated, I asked, "And this one??"

"Mom...it looks like baby shit."

Fine.

So let's go on to chairs.

AAAAHHHHHH!!!! The wretched RECLINER!!!! I freaking HATE recliners! It's definitely a GUY thing.

Why can't a guy lounge in something that's more aesthetic...like this, for cryin' out Pete's sake?? Why is it that he has to be in something that's either overstuffed leather/vinyl or overstuffed tacky which kicks out enabling him to put his feet up and snore so that he can be heard down the street??

Now this, on the other hand, would be a nice alternative. Doesn't this look comfortable? When I first took the picture, I thought, "No way, Jose." But then when I looked at the photo later, I didn't think it was so bad. Even Jared thought it looked pretty comfortable. I'm not so sure about the color, but that's a chair where you sit down to watch TV and 5 minutes later, you've forgotten all about TV. (And I still think it looks better than an ugly recliner...yuck.)

A Route 66 alternative. I love traveling down Route 66 myself, but don't want to put it on my furniture...

And I found this one in three out of the five stores I visited today. Must be a new trend. I sat in it and didn't feel comfortable. You lean way back and your legs just kind of stick out in front. Jared said he thinks you should curl up on it...but either way, the back isn't high enough to give you any support, so it's just kind of a waste of furniture...and waste of space.

Then there are the animal fabrics...

And another waste of space. Makes you want to tell someone to bring you grapes and palm fronds to fan you with. You gotta have some major space to put these items in your home.

Here's my new dining room set...

Hahaha! I kid. I generally don't entertain a dozen people formally.

But it would have gone along well with the bed I chose...

Hahahaha! I kid again.

My bedroom choices were more along the lines of these (not including the bed linens)...

But, then again, when I saw this chair at the last place I checked out, I thought...maybe the castle look would actually work out. I could put these in the entry way after you cross over the moat.

Oh, darn...they had "sold" signs on them. I'll have to keep looking.

And I've left this for last. The ultimate wine bottle holder. Now I ask you...is anyone who appreciates a good bottle of wine going to want that bottle holder? And is anyone who appreciates that bottle holder (especially at $29.00) going to want a good bottle of wine? I think not.

But you just never know...

Belize...from someone else's view...

I have a friend who spent the month of April in Belize. I've never met Barry, but we've gotten acquainted through my blog. He told me he took a lot of pictures while in Belize and I told him to send them to me and I could post a few on my blog since he didn't have one. I received his CD today...450 photos. Sheesh! That would take about 10 blogs, so I just went through them quickly tonight to post what I thought were the highlights. I've never been to Belize and Barry's never been to Isla. At first, I thought of doing a comparison post, but then I decided to give credit solely to Barry's photos of Belize. I think Isla lovers will find a lot of similarities.

The Caye Caulker air strip. Definitely not your LAX or O'Hare...haha.

Same kind of colorful houses and stores like on Isla...

And food pics! Good boy, Barry!

This is Barry's pic of the great floor tiles and bartop in this establishment. It's a shame that girl in the bikini had to get in the way!

I love this photo because of the little girl holding the kite...what a beauty.

Loving families...

Little tiendas....

Yikes!! WTF??? I hope this was a long distance shot!! Looks like something from a SciFi movie!

This was probably my favorite shot...but thought it looked better in B&W...

Typical vendors...

I could feel pretty comfortable staying here...

This is a keeper...

I love the photos of the families....

I don't know how the American dollar rates against the Belizian dollar, but if it's even, these prices seem pretty high...

I bet this guy has a few stories to tell...

And just a few more...

Hmmm....I think I will have to put Belize on my traveling list.