Where the Rain Smells Fresh

Let me start this post with an apology.  I generally avoid posting about other people out of respect for their privacy.  If you ever want be a part of this blog, you have to let me know.  Our week in Florida was spent visiting friends and family that we have missed so much.  I was so excited about spending time with them that I didn't take care to get good pictures for the blog.  With that caveat . . .

We pulled into Florida just as the afternoon rain shower hit.  I didn't realize it until that time, but I've missed the smell of rain.  Being in the Seattle area, there is lots of drizzly rain, but a full-on shower is rare.  Something I never really though of before, though, was the smell of a Florida rain!  I really can't describe it, but it just smells fresh.  A quick Google search (see how scientific I am!!) gives a couple of reasons for the unique scent.  One explanation is that it's ozone.  The problem is that ozone is created when lightening splits oxygen and nitrogen.  The problem with that is that I've been in thunderstorms with lots of lightening strikes in other parts of the world and never smelled this particular scent anywhere else in the world besides Florida.  I have been places where you can smell the rain, but this is a very unique scent.

Another theory is that the rains release specific oils and bacteria from the ground, especially when it's been dry for a period of time.  This could be the case, since it's such a unique smell and the flora in Florida is different than in, say, Tennessee or Kentucky or Seattle.  However, the flora is similar in Louisiana, and there are differences in the flora in North Florida, with the Live Oaks, Pines, and other vegetation compared to the Mangroves, Cypress trees, and vegetation common in the swampy areas of South Florida.  I smell the same scent with the rain in both North and South Florida.  I also don't smell it in Southern Mississippi or Louisiana, or other swampy areas with both Live Oaks and Cypress trees.

Oh well.  Just one of those things.  The universe may never know.  Maybe it's just in my head.

Anyway, we got settled into our accommodations and started looking forward to seeing people we had missed for the last couple of years.  We did do some things other than just hanging out, and I did get some pictures, but most of my pictures are of some adorable young ladies who were busy enjoying our activities.

We spent some time at the Florida Aquarium in Tampa.  They've made some changes since the last time I was there, and there are more changes coming.   They were just beginning to open up the new section with the lemurs when we left Tampa.  The area is really nice.  They have more Roseate Spoonbills than I remember, too.  I think they've given up on keeping them out of the rafters.

On a different day, we went to Bok Tower Gardens in Lake Wales.  I had never been here before.  Even for being June, not a very blossoming time in the Florida heat, it was beautiful.  The tower itself is pretty imposing.

The koi were happy to eat the food that made it out there for them.

And the gardens were lovely with or without blossoms.

I took lots of shots of butterflies.  Unfortunately, as always, the butterflies weren't in any of the pictures.  I think all the butterflies gang up on me to avoid letting me take their pictures.  It started in the Amazon with that beautiful blue butterfly that kept taunting me!

When we went, they had just recently opened a new section, the children's garden.  It was an awesome garden with everything from a sandbox, to climbing activities, and even an old-fashioned water pump!  It was a great area for young children or children young at heart to play in.  I soooo wished I hadn't been in the CAM boot, but I really enjoyed watching the kids play, especially in the water fountain!  They all had a wonderful time!  Unfortunately, I got confused with the camera.  I video taped lots of the sky and ground, and when I thought I was filming - with the kids running up and down in the water - it was off.  Oh well.  I guess I can't be perfect ALL the time!  Heehee!

Though you don't get many pictures, I definitely recommend visiting Bok Tower Gardens if you're around Lake Wales (South and between Tampa and Orlando) and the Florida Aquarium in the Channelside area of Tampa.

On the way back to Kissimmee, where our hotel was, I did pass by this little malfunction.  The news said the manager had just gotten up from his desk on the other side of this wall when the store was converted to a drive-in furniture rental shop.  Nobody was injured during this impromptu renovation.

After a couple of more days hanging out with friends and lounging by the pool, we headed out for one of Bruce's favorite places, Biloxi, Mississippi.