blown away, well almost

There's a dust storm blowing through west Texas right now, and specifically through my neighborhood. Apparently this is what everyone warns you about when you move to Lubbock. "Wait until the dust storms!" they say. (Emily, I'm sure there's a ton of MLA errors all over that quote.) Well, they're here, and I'm not really enjoying them. The thing is that we're right on the outside edge of town, so there's not really anything between us and the wide open plains. Meaning, that the wind comes at the front of the house with full force. This will be better as they continue to build more houses in our neighborhood. My office is the front room of our house, and so all day long I hear the wind howling at the window. The sky is no longer beautiful TX blue, but a general tan color because of all the sand blowing around. I'd describe it as a brown-out, non-electrical of course.

The back porch is covered in dirt, and the butterfly chair covers are filthy. ugh. Oh well, they needed replaced anyway- guess that'll be my next project, sewing new covers. The front flower beds are void of the mulch we put down this summer, which is why they use landscape stone in southwest instead of mulch like the Yankees. It can be pricey, but the end result is savings since you only lay it down once, instead of having it blow away every 6 months.