March 22 2009 Get Up

The desert winds took hold today, dusting the valley. The beginning was just windy enough we decided against taking the '58 CJ5 up the side of the Colorado Plateau. Once there, though, we looked out over the valley and watched the opposing Bookcliffs disappear under a cloud of dust rustled from the desert north of town. Then we saw the black and yellow smoke from the controlled burn join the brown cloud. The we could not see the city at all, nor could we stand outside, for the grit began to collect on our eyelashes and in our teeth. The windchimes along the porch pierced with the clanging. Then the rain came, and darkness, and we could see the lights of the city, and the stars and clouds. Then we went home. If ever you are in a desert valley and the winds come, get up, for godsakes, gain elevation.

Landscape setting, zoom at 16x, using the minitripod. This is a shot toward the beginning of the rise of dust.