Petrichor
Hot-Glued Golf Balls & Letting Nature Do its Thing
It’s our third day of setup at the Rocket Classic and a weather alarm sounds throughout the golf course. My client sends me a text mandating that everyone evacuate the course and wait out the storm in the clubhouse. My team and I will often work through the rain wearing rain jackets and boots, but when thunder and lightning hit, it’s unsafe to stay outside.
As we wait out the storm inside, I think about how this will impact the project I have planned for the afternoon. I watch the heavy rain hit the window and it reminds me that some things are just out of our control; no matter how meticulous the plan is, we often have to pause and let nature do its thing.
Once the rain starts to settle, my team and I roll up our sleeves and prepare to head back to work out on the green. As we walk through the clubhouse doors and onto the course, the precipitation, the wet grass and trees, and the hot surrounding pavement create a steamy, otherworldly ambiance. I take in a deep breath, and the warm smell of earth and rain brings me right down memory lane.
Petrichor
Pet·ri·chor (ˈpetrīˌkôr): a pleasant smell that frequently accompanies the first rain after a long period of warm, dry weather.
When petrichor accompanies an experience, it has the ability to lock that moment in, kind of like certain familiar songs and places.
There’s something about the scent of petrichor that takes me back to being a kid. I imagine myself as a seven year old, breathing in the air after a heavy summer rain. Smelling the soil and atmosphere all at once, finding comfort in the sensations and in the love I felt for being in nature, playing outside. Innocence and curiosity. When I was little, I felt the beauty of petrichor, not really knowing why or how, and I still feel that mysterious beauty every time I smell it.
There’s a sweetness and romance in petrichor. It affirms an inner knowing, almost ancestral, that we survived the storm, whether “the storm” was the nerves in getting to know someone new, finishing a long and difficult day, or having a tough conversation. Petrichor feels like a big blanket or a supportive big brother. Through its comfort, petrichor can also be energizing, gently nudging us to get back out there.
Uplifted
With the petrichor emanating from the Detroit Golf Club and the knowledge that my team has my back, I feel uplifted. I meet my next delivery guy feeling like all is right. I have a pep in my step and I’m onto the next task.
The order arrives and a key part of it does not look anything like I expected. It’s so bad that when I see it, I immediately hide behind a tall flower cart and burst into laughter. I’ve never been catfished before but I imagine that’s exactly what it would feel like. The product is so not what I wanted.
Maybe it’s the petrichor, instilling a sense of grounding in me, but after my fit of laughter I pull myself together to handle this unexpected flower flop. I don’t lash out at the vendor, I just take another deep breath, I explain my frustration to my team, and prepare to keep it moving. Like the storm, some things are just out of our control, but if we’re lucky enough to experience petrichor, figuratively or metaphorically, we can find ways to weather the challenge.
My team and I spend the afternoon sourcing other plants and coming up with solutions. I get in touch with my client in the afternoon, letting them know that the other project that I had planned to complete that afternoon will now need to happen first thing in the morning, that I’m delayed from being sidetracked with a delivery, and that I’m delayed because of the rain. I’m not the first to “Blame it on the Rain” and my client totally understood.
Doing the Work
I wonder if we humans really do love this smell so much because of our ancient relationship to the land and to water. It just makes sense, right? Because a heavy rainfall could save our lives in times of drought and reassure us that everything might be okay after all.
As I carry out my sixth year working the Rocket Mortgage tournament, my experience with petrichor on the course really cements the value of outdoor work in my life, particularly work in golf-course landscapes, and reminds me of why I love working with plants and flowers on such a deep level. Petrichor calms my nerves just like working with these living things does. Petrichor lights up my senses just like working with my hands does. And petrichor connects me to some of the strongest memories in my life, just like all my clients and events do.
