Earth to Mars

Earlier this week the light started changing in the office.  It started out pretty much as a normal day, but in the early afternoon the light got really eerie.  I got up to go talk to someone, looked out the window and realized why things looked strange.  Everything outside was orange.These photographs are not manipulated, this was the color of the light!  And it was changing by the minute.

It was like being on Mars.  Strange thing was that you could see in the distance - it wasn't haze in the air!  Everything seemed so still and clear.  Apparently the orange cast came from a dust cloud high in the atmosphere.

Over the next hour or so, the cloud dissipated (well, settled) and everything was back to normal.  Back to normal except for a  very thin layer of orange dust on everything.

You can't really tell very well from this shot, but there is a thin layer of dust on top of the vehicles.  The colors colors are normal and the sky was fairly clear.  We thought that was the end of it.  Well . . .

I went to the gym that night (I'm back into my exercising routine) and a slight breeze was kicking up.  By the time I was done with my workout, it was windy.  Windy enough for me to grab my balaklava to put over my mouth as I walked over for dinner.  When I left the DFAC to head back, it was like walking in a blizzard.  You couldn't see, you couldn't breathe, and wind buffeted enough to make one take a mis-step or two.  At a couple of points I had to stop and turn around it was blowing so hard into my face.  I was in my first sand storm!  Folks who have been around here for years said it was the worst they'd seen (too bad it was at night - sorry, no photos).  I was walking with a friend and a couple of his colleagues.  One said (well, yelled so she could be heard) that she was on the phone that afternoon with someone from Jordan who told her they could see a huge cloud to the east blowing in our direction - and that she'd better get ready.  True words.

By the next morning everything was still again.  And there was a coat of dust on everything.  Like we'd gotten a dusting of snow, except it was dirt.  Over the next few days, everwhere there were people sweeping and washing everything to get it back to normal.  There's something new every week!