Windy Point

Sustained winds of 50 mph are blasting through the pass and right down I-10. Visibility is pretty much zero, major roads are closed, and all motorists are being warned to stay off the roads. There's a hazmat spill down-valley and the news teams covering it are on one side of the road, cameras pointing to the string of emergency vehicles working the scene, none of which can be seen through the blowing sand between the two crews.

We're being told the dangerous winds should die down by 3 am, which will be nice because if you live on one side of I-10 and work on the other, you actually cannot cross the freeway either to get to work or to return home.

The good news is that the steel water heater shed next door has been rebuilt with wood and a cute little brick roof to add some weight and keep the shelter there when the winds blow. After a full 6 months of listening to that racket, the absence of noise is sweet music to my ears.

ADDENDUM

No sooner had I hit the publish post button than a series of little power outages occurred, so I shut down my computer until it seemed safe to reboot. We've also been enjoying the constant movement of the quake faults, a common occurrence in the desert when the temps shift from the chill of winter to the sudden soaring high temps of summer. It settles out after a few weeks, but this year is taking longer to do so as the temps have been all over the board. I can go outside any time of the day or night and not be instantly burned by the blazing sun or flash frozen by the rapid evening drops in temp, a situation that is not common in the desert.