Damp Soil Haiku.

spout pours waterfall

damp soil aroma swells lungs
smiling body sighs

By James R. Ure

When cleansing rain touches brittle and cracked soil it expands and swells to life, which allows it to emit that rich, musty scent that is so relaxing. There is something so familiar about this scent that makes me feel so comfortable and balanced. I think it's because it reinforces the reality that I am at one and interdependent upon the saturated earth. Perhaps we feel that instant comfort from wet soil because we recognize the motherly essence of it as so much life springs from it. I know I do.

It's calming effect on me is so instant and consuming that it has often reminded me of how automatic my nerves relax when I catch the scent of my mother. It is the scent of being "home." Another reason I think the smell calms us is because by breathing it in we are very vividly living in the present moment. Wet soil is so common to the basic operations of life that it's hard to not feel profoundly connected to the present moment when intoxicated by its scent.

Interestingly, that rich smell from damp dirt comes from a bacteria that resides within it:

As it turns out, the smells people associate with rainstorms can be caused by a number of things. One of the more pleasant rain smells, the one we often notice in the woods, is actually caused by bacteria! Actinomycetes, a type of filamentous bacteria, grow in soil when conditions are damp and warm. When the soil dries out, the bacteria produces spores in the soil. The wetness and force of rainfall kick these tiny spores up into the air where the moisture after a rain acts as an aerosol (just like an aerosol air freshener). The moist air easily carries the spores to us so we breathe them in. These spores have a distinctive, earthy smell we often associate with rainfall.

~Peace to all beings~