I had no idea before I lived in the desert how much that wind is a factor for weather conditions everywhere else. It takes the low pressure of the arid desert to drag moisture-laden clouds toward it, but then in return, the mountain ranges block the rain from falling on the arid side. This low pressure-high pressure dance of aerial currents pulls storms across the land. The clouds have to be heavy enough with moisture and the wind strong enough to pull them over to the other side before precious rain can then fall in the desert. If they don’t have enough moisture left after they pass over the peaks, the desert receives only the gift of wind which carries the sand instead. We have had a lot of wind this season, and because it has been a dry winter, the sandstorms have been fierce and unrelenting.
Last night was particularly windy and the banshee howls and shrieks shook the house and rattled the windows. When I rise, I must sweep up fine grains of sand most every morning, but I haven’t been able to stay on top of it. I have resigned myself to the realization that I can’t be as good of a house cleaner as my sensibilities would like, so screw it, I must lower my standards in order to stay sane.
This morning the sun rose to a delightful and peaceful stillness, so I jumped on my Raleigh bike and headed over to Coyote Canyon to see if I could find any wildflowers left. The creosote bushes still have their pale yellow flowers, frosted, blue colored berries and the adorable white cotton balls all over them. The wild desert honeybees were covering the creosote in a frenzy of pollen-collecting and to my delight, I came across the Sacred Datura blossoms too. This trumpet type flower is a luminous white with pale lavender colored edges. It is also known as Jimson Weed and is very toxic. Native Indians have used this plant in religious ceremonies for centuries to induce a hallucinogenic trance, but if one is not extremely careful, the plant can cause an agonizing death.
I also biked over to the dragon sculpture by Ricardo Breceda that I had mentioned in the Bighorn Sheep Sculptures post so that I could take a photograph of it. Today is calm and clear and my sanity has once again been restored. We are planning on another RV trip next week and are thinking of going to The Fountain of Youth RV Park by the Salton Sea. I could use some of that magic because my skin feels really dry and my throat parched from the intense heat and lack of moisture. The Fountain of Youth sounds like a miracle to me! Callie was able to climb her olive tree again this morning and can actually hang outside for awhile today. It has been too windy almost all week for any outdoor activity.




















