I woke today (the Superteen's birthday but more on that tomorrow!) to news reports that Sydney was shrouded in a dust storm. I watched the images on television as I looked out the window and was thankful that it wasn't here.......that gloating feeling lasted all of about an hour when I looked out the window and realised that the sun was nowhere to be seen. Somehow the incredible mass of dust had found its way to south-eastern Queensland and to every manageable space of my neighbourhood!
(There is a hill with a water tower hiding behind those trees in amongst that dust somewhere!)There are some things that I have learned about dust storms. The first is that it gives everything an eerie glow. For us it was a golden-orangey colour. The second is that it decreases visibility so that you are lucky if you can see anymore than a few hundred metres in front of you! The third is that everything...and I mean everything....becomes completely covered in a fine layer of dust. Even though we stayed inside and I closed all doors and windows, the tiles still feel like they have a layer of fine, powdered dust on them. And don't even get me started on allergies and asthma - the fact that I have a sore throat tonight means that I'm hitting the hay fever meds! All I can do is thank God that we didn't have any reason to be out and about in it today.
(And here, behind the trees is Moreton Island...somewhere!)The news reports are saying that it's the worst dust storm to hit eastern Australia in years. It certainly was an experience and one we'll never forget!
