We got hit by another haboob last night. In case you’re not from Arizona or the Sahara Desert a haboob is a dust storm on steroids, really the closest thing to a natural disaster we have here. As the cloud of dust envelops the landscape, the sky turns almost dark as night even in the middle of the afternoon.
The door to our cell opens to the great outdoors which is really just a desolate stretch of empty dirt, and there is a half inch gap around the door frame. As a result, it offers little protection from the elements, including the 115 degree heat and of course the blowing dust. At first, we tried to block it out by stuffing socks and dirty t-shirts around the frame and into the cracks but it was a futile effort. 5 minutes into the storm our little room was a literal cloud of dust. There was nothing left to do but get underneath a sheet and cover our faces with washcloths to keep the grit out of our mouths. By morning our cell was filthy beyond description and even my toothbrush was covered in dirt. Just that previous afternoon I had hung all my wet, clean clothes up to dry- needless to say, they were neither clean nor dry anymore. And worst of all, my bunkie and I had just finished our ‘spring cleaning’! Oh well, time to get busy and start cleaning…again.
Even though the weather gets crazy, I’m grateful for my beautiful view of the mountains!