Sandy weather

As time passes, I'm developing a clearer picture of what the seasons in Abu Dhabi are really about. I landed in August in the middle of the damp oven of summer. Fall wasn't much of anything but steadily increasing puffs of cooler and cooler air from the north that eventually settled into the balmy nirvana known as "winter." Now the temperature is (regrettably) on its way back up. This is accompanied by a string of dust storms that mark the beginning of the Arabian spring.

Don't think of the Hollywood wall of sand that causes well-timed drama in movies like "The Mummy" and "Hidalgo," though those do exist out in the open desert. In Abu Dhabi, a dust storm blows in with the wind, much like loosely organized fog or smoke from a forest fire. The sand hangs in the air like soot, giving the sky (and everything else) a yellowish tinge. When you walk through it, you can actually feel the grains hitting your skin in the same way water droplets coalesce in a low cloud bank. There isn't much velocity in the middle of a city, though most people stay indoors. The sand finds its way through the cracks in windows and flows through the vents. Today, both K and I came home to a thin coating on tables, chairs and floors. The dry metallic smell was everywhere. There will be a very long line at the car wash tomorrow. That is assuming the storm has stopped. Last week, it took a few days before the sand was scrubbed from the air. A prevailing wind from the ocean helps, as does gravity. As for my apartment, there's nothing to do but bust out the vacuum cleaner, dust rags and a mop--repeatedly. If these dust storms keep coming, I might start looking forward to summer.