Today is the day I got the first whiff of that smell, when the rain beats down on the baked summer earth. As the clouds work overtime to cool the soil and then drench it, tiny fumes seem to drift upwards as they make their way into my nose. I stand in the balcony, with my elbow on the wall and my chin on my palm, staring at the procession of black clouds rushing in from the horizon, and my face breaks out into a wide happy smile.

The land that seemed like an oppressed widow yesterday, is a bubbly waif today. The birds are chirping, the dogs wag their tails.

A cool breeze blows in to the balcony, sending tiny shivers up my spine. I feel like I have woken up in a totally different place this morning.