Bob Somerville

In the ebb and flow of wellness trends, mineral springs remain a steady source of healing. One of the most storied landscapes where these therapeutic waters emerge is the Desert Southwest, especially in and around the Coachella Valley.

How can smell predict the future? Some people seem to know when a storm is coming even before clouds gather and rain falls — they literally can smell it. You’ve probably caught a whiff of the earthy scent known as “petrichor.”

Smell might just be our most intriguing sense. Like the other four, it informs us about the world we live in, but it has other tricks up its sleeve. It’s a time machine that can waft us back through decades in our own life story. It’s a prophet that can enable some people to predict the weather. Most intriguing, it can help us heal.