light dusting

We got back into town around 5 Tuesday night. We were home by 6. Dinner was off the grill by 7. Good thing, because by 8 it was a crazy world outside our door. It was difficult to see the trees and cactus behind the pool. Opening the front door ensured your eyes would be full of grit (and possibly beams and motes). The wind just wouldn't quit. And my favorite - the entire house smelled like fresh dirt from the garden.

Turns out we were in the midst of an "haboob." Yes, you should google it. At one point it engulfed all of Camelback Mountain. It was said to be at least a mile high and spread about 50 or 60 miles wide.

By morning the wind had stopped, but there was dust and dirt EVERYWHERE. And our pool was as dirty as I've ever seen it. Apparently it wasn't the only pool with such troubles, the high school swim team had to cancel practice because of their own murky water.

Dust seemed to hang in the air. It seemed hazy almost, but very different.

We stayed inside most of the day except for a few back-into-town errands to run (because we would have to eat, y'know).

It occurred to me this was like a distorted reflection of Christmas break. We were hunkered down inside, all cozy with fun movies, toys to play with, and great books to read. When we did emerge from our cocoon, it wasn't for long and we hurried (along with the rest of the shoppers at Costco) inside and then hurried back to the car.

Today we won't be making dustman or sledding down dust hill, but we will be hosing down the patio furniture and doing our best to revive our sad garden.

For some reason, I just can't get "It's beginning to look a lot like..." out my head. Perhaps we will have to break out some holiday tunes to get us through our chores today.