Dust Storm

For those of you who read my previous post regarding dust ... well, that was nothing compared to last night! We had our first major dust storm. I was totally unprepared. I had heard of these dust storms/sand storms, but I naively thought if I stayed inside I would be fine. I was wrong. This was crazy! I had to go to the hospital for my shift, and in the 2 minutes it took me to walk there I was literally covered in dust! The dust was so thick it was hard to see, not just because the dust blocked the vision, but because it gets in your eyes (also mouth, hair, ears, everything!)- nothing can stop it. All night at the hospital we coughed and sputtered, wearing masks, and trying to find a place in the hospital that wasnt filled with a cloud of dust! All the smoke detectors went off because the dust was so thick. In short, it was a long night.
I now have a new appreciation for the forces of nature and for the phrase "after the dust settled." There was such a thick coat of dust over everything in the hospital that it will take days to clean all the bedding, the supplies, computers, equipment, etc. -totally crazy!

By the time I walked home this morning the dust had settled for the most part. Outside it reminded me of the first snow of the winter where everything is covered in white-- only here everything was covered in brown (it was already covered in brown before, but it was REALLY covered now). I had to spend the morning cleaning my room because everything was covered in dust.

Here are some pictures I took on the way to work last night. I hope I don't have to endure another dust storm anytime soon!