PHOTO OF THE WEEK Rain Is for the Dogs

Canines Track The Scent Of Morning Dew

By Pierre Ratte

After a rain, outdoor settings smell fresher, better. The word for that smell is “petrichor.” Scents are more easily detected on cool, moist days because water molecules capture scents and “hold” them for all to smell.

Morning dew aggregates scent molecules. That’s one reason why tracking dogs have their noses to the ground and perform better in the morning.

Tracking dogs like hounds have long ears which rustle up the leaves, raising the scent. Though human noses do not have as many receptors as most animals, it is estimated that humans can differentiate over 1 billion different smells. That estimate must be from an AI or mathematical study, rather than an in-person trial.

Unfortunately, an estimated 450 million people lost their sense of smell due to COVID-19. While it is estimated that 40% of those losing their olfactory sense will regain it in six months, many will not recover the delicious and not so delicious sensations. It’s reported that smell training can help correct this condition.

To date, WHO (World Health Organization) estimates 754 million people have had COVID and 6.8 million have died— approximately 1%. Unfortunately, it is still around.

Fun facts: Dogs have twice as many odor receptors as humans; cats are 14 times better at detecting odors than humans; a silkworm moth can detect one molecule of scent seven miles away.

Science is focused on COVID’s affects on humans. But it is sobering to think how this disease might be affecting the natural world, where sense of smell dictates ways of life and reproduction.

COVID attacks olfactory support cells called sustentacular cells. Their role is to maintain a salt balance, promoting electrical connectivity that sends signals to the brain.

At first, it was feared COVID might be infecting olfactory neurons directly, the danger here being those neurons could lead the virus into the brain. Fortunately, those neurons do not have ACE2 receptors, and olfactory loss is due to chemical imbalances.

It will be interesting to understand in years to come how this pandemic has been experienced by the non-human partners on this Earth.

Healdsburg Jazz

given as much attention over the years to Black History Month as has Healdsburg Jazz, the 25-year-old old education and performance nonprofit. “For all these years, I’ve been trying to introduce kids to eloquent and charismatic Black musicians—all they mostly know is athletes and actors,” said Jessica Felix, the festival’s founder.

In about 2010, Felix, impressed by bassist and bandleader Marcus Shelby’s ability to connect with kids, asked him if he’d like to help create a Black History Month program in Healdsburg.

Shelby did several week-long music education swings through local schools, until COVID shut down school assemblies, among other things. Now he’s the festival’s artistic director, and has too many other roles to handle as well.

Yet his voice as an educator has not abandoned him. “Imagine a world without swing,” he wrote in a recent newsletter. “Imagine a world without music that changed the course of history during the civil rights movement…

Without these contributions from Black artists who taught us as a nation how to creatively reflect our unique and emotional experiences using the language of the blues, we are left with a world muted in its potential.”

On Feb. 25, Shelby will lead his 12-part musical suite, “Soul of the Movement: Meditations on Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.,” starting at 6:30pm at the Raven. His 45-minute program will be followed by a concert from blues singer and bandleader Terrie Odabi, on the theme “Blues of Resistance.” Her performance will cover a range of music from the Civil Rights era, including songs by the Staple Singers and others.

‘Blues of Resistance with Terrie Obadi’ begins at 7:30pm on Feb. 25 at the Raven Theater, 115 North St., Healdsburg. Tickets $18-$35, available at healdsburgjazz.org or from a link on the raventhreater.org website.