Thursday, October 01, 2009

Blow me down

I imagine you heard, as I did, about the dust cloud which blanketed Sydney in red a week ago? The pictures on the Age and Australian websites were different colors, so I suspected the deeper reds of the Age had been doctored. But then my sister sent me these pictures, taken from the car as she and her family were on holiday in Broken Hill. Dust had been blowing since morning, she tells me, but light was fine, and the sun was covered by a tan sky. Then at 3:52pm, it suddenly went pitch black, only lightening up towards red about 20 minutes later, then another 15 minutes later into gold. It went back to red a few more times that afternoon and evening with the winds raging. Fine, red sand made itself onto all the window ledges of our cabin and under the door. Apparently it was the most extended blackout in forty years. (For the true colors - blood red and gold - click the pics: blogger sometimes dulls colors.) I've heard about such duststorms - well, read about them - but now I feel like I've seen one.