Shoutout to the smell of rain on hot pavement | Core Memory Talk

Evan Cooper · 2026-03-21T09:50:05.494881+00:00

I was maybe four, sitting on our front step in Tulsa after a summer storm. The concrete was steaming and that wet dirt smell hit me so hard it felt like a color. I didn't know the word 'petrichor' then, but that moment is still my clearest early memory. Now every time it rains, I have to stop and just breathe it in for a second. Anyone else have a memory tied to a smell that just sticks with you?

the_tyler7mo ago

I always thought it was the dirt too, but @the_lisa changed my mind about that smell.

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taylor.reese7mo ago

Guess I've been wrong for years then. I just stand there breathing it in like it's some kind of earthy perfume. My whole life is a lie built on the smell of wet sidewalks.

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the_lisa7mo ago

Actually, that's the smell of wet concrete, not dirt.

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lewis.terry6mo ago

My buddy swears it smells like his grandma's garden.

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