Wiley Winter Winds

I thought I understood what "wind" was. I read about the winds before moving here (The High Desert about an hour out of Reno, Nv.) . I understood that our metal out-building would have to have extra strength due to the wind factor (aka extra cost). I read the signs just outside of town that said, "Warning, dust storm area." I understood when the nice lady at the Manufactured Home place said that "double nailing" our roof shingles because of the wind was our responsibility, not theirs... but what was I thinking!?! The wind whistled and howled and spit sand everywhere for two days straight. There was a grey haze that I at first mistook for fog or clouds, but eventually came to realize was sand, sand and more sand, combined with a far dose of dust. And, even when toasty warm inside, the sound alone was enough to make you feel a chill. Even with a fire in the fireplace. I learned that tumbleweed don't always "tumble", they can also slam themselves against the walls and shatter. Puddles can have waves 6 inches tall in them. And, now, of course, everything not nailed down is now plastered against the Eastern fence - including an ice chest, a small tire, several empty plastic pots from our trees (they were stacked on the lee side of a building, so we THOUGHT they were safe :-), lots of bits of trash from our lot and our westwardly neighbor's lot that neither one of us knew we had, a few lawn chairs, some 5 gallon buckets and a small piece of plywood. Ok, I think I'm getting an idea what wind is :-) The wind stopped at 3 pm yesterday. Boom, just like that. No warning, nothing. Just stopped. Now we're cleaning up and battening down the hatches for Mother Nature's next onslaught! Such an adventure moving to a new climate! I DID say that I wanted to move to somewhere with WEATHER and CLIMATE (as opposed to the very blase San Francisco Bay Area or the only slightly more weatherly San Joaquin Valley, CA) - guess I am getting what I asked for :-) I'm sure the particulates in the air aren't good for the lungs, but they made for one heck of a sunset last night. Red-fire sky.

Counting my blessings and enjoying every minute. Take care, all.