Le Ciel Orange

The Orange Sky

Sally and I went out for our walk this morning and there was this beautiful sunrise that took up almost the whole sky.  The sky filled the color spectrum from deep red to coral.  It was really spectacular.  We did our "thank you God" thing and felt really privileged to see such a sight. 

While we may have been privileged to see such a sight it wasn’t all of the suns doing.  We are in the start of the “windy” season.  That is where the wind blows down from Europe, picks up tons of dust from the Sahara Desert, and blows it on us.  We were seeing sun filtered dust.  We are told that when it gets bad, you can’t even see the sun during the day.

Not all of the dust stays in the air.  I’ve had a cough and I am sure that if someone cared to look my lungs would be the color of a tangerine or one of the rotting pumpkins.  Sally showed me the sponge she uses to wipe the table and it was orange.  She says it is orange every day.  There is a coating of fine orange dust on everything. 

I was asked to do an inventory of the tools in 9x10 tool room.  The tool room is off a back corner of the garage.  It is like a room in a room.  There was a little room at the bottom of the door but other than that it was sealed off.  It was not a neat tool room.  Some things hadn't been used in years.  OK?  Got the picture.  The dust, orange dust, was thick, at least a quarter inch thick.  How it got there I don’t know but it got there.  I was in there for a couple of hours sorting, arranging, and taking inventory.  I was almost done when the director came by and said I needed a mask.  Duh. 

Outside. orange dust is not a problem because the ground is a sandy orange too.  It adds color to shoes, clothes, hair, and skin.  I brought several pairs of white socks to walk in and they are now orange, despite many washings.  When you drive a big worry is getting stuck in the orange sand.  The farther you get away from the rainy season the dryer and looser the soil.

I am so proud of myself.  I have stopped whining about the heat.  (Did I mention it is hot here?)  Maybe I need something else to whine about, like dust.