Dust Storm -- Overland From the Playa

In the Midwest, the weather news has been snow, ice, and cold. Here in the Southwest, it's been wind.

We could see the dust in the distance from about 20 miles away. As we drove closer, the storm naturally appeared larger. 

We were in the clear in Willcox, but driving from there to Dos Cabezas we were heading right into the storm. We could not even see our mountains in any direction.

And then, happily, before Dos Cabezas, we came out the other side.

Yes, It SNOWED Here!

I know, I know -- it's nothing like Michigan. Still, it was the coldest day we have had here this winter, and a 2-mile walk turned my ungloved hands to icicles!

Roadrunner

This is the sixth one I've seen but the first one that held still to have its picture taken.

Sarah, Sarah, Sarah!!!

Sarah truck

Sarah cat

Sarah dog

Big Storm in the Mountains

An initial line of puffy white clouds to the east turned a golden color in the late afternoon, just as we were almost ready to sit down to supper. We kept jumping up during the meal to run outdoors and monitor the sky. Here's how things progressed.

I'm sure there was rain over in the Chiricahuas, but while the storm was building in that direction, back to the west, in the direction of Willcox, the sun set very quietly. Then all night heavy winds rattled the windows and shook the roof! No pictures of the wind, but here is the calm sunset view in the other direction, these shots taken during the same period as the more dramatic ones above.

Creature From Right Here on Earth

This is actually only the exoskeleton, the carapace-plus, so to speak, the living being long gone -- to bigger and better things? This remnant I found was three inches long.

The Middle of Nowhere

Home Scenes, Southwest

This is our mountain

the morning after two days of rain.

Here is Sarah,

being good about barbed wire.