One morning I turned on the radio and was greeted with this warning:
"A haboob is headed our way from the Lubbock area and should arrive within an hour!"
I alternated between acute ignorance and mounting consternation.
What the hell is a haboob?
Should I prepare to run?
What should I wear?
Do I have time to Google?
I Googled.
A haboob is a violently oppressive dust storm, derived from the Arabic word habb, meaning to blow.
Dust storms are extremely frequent in West Texas and wind is eternal. Haboobs are merely bigger, dustier, and more dramatic.
Here are some photos I took in West
Texas during an "average" dust storm.
My Texas back yard
Taken from a bedroom window
So why am I writing this?
A few days ago a huge Sahara dust storm blew from the west coast of Africa and traveled on east to west winds 5,000 miles across the ocean.
It is presently sprinkling dust and pollution on many states here in the U.S.
Friday and Saturday were hazy and rather dusty here in rural Tennessee. In Texas the dust often yields spectacular sunsets.
Last Friday evening the sunset was fairly impressive in my neck of the woods.
Naturally, I grabbed my El Cheapo camera and went out on the front porch.
Unfortunately, all the trees are in the way but I still got a few good shots.
As I'm writing this post there's a huge thunderstorm raging, which I assume will settle all the dust.
I'm sorry that I didn't reply to your comments on my previous WINE post, but I appreciated your input!
