I live in the desert. Is it just me or does everyone have to double check the spelling for desert/dessert every time they type it? The reason I mention the desert is because it's very easy to forget you live in the desert in Qatar. When you're situated on the Persian Gulf, surrounded by water and modern architecture, it can slip your mind that just outside the city limits is sand. Lots of sand.
Until it gets windy.
For the past two days the wind has been crazy. Sand drifts across streets in purposeful waves, the sky is the colour of a butternut and a city view becomes a distant memory. My hair is full of grit. My skin has an extra layer and my eyes are in a state of permanent squint.
As I made my way across the school car park yesterday I watched mothers clutching the hands of their children. Someone was walking backwards trying to lessen the impact. A girlfriend of mine stopped talking mid sentence and said "I can feel the sand on my teeth".
Most of the houses here don't have carpet, it means the children can draw and sketch with just an index finger and a kitchen floor. Me? Exaggerate?
Okay, but I can feel the sand on my feet as I walk from room to room. It's on my laptop as I type, it's on the plants, the windows, the cupboards and it piles up in miniature dunes at the front and back door.
Here's the view through our back window.
My laptop.
I live in the desert. Not the dessert.
Dust for your house, salt flakes in ours - we've had some snow and a real cold snap here in Geneva and the footpaths are salted. People inevitably walk it inside and now our floors are white and dusty! Even the dog has a lick if there's nothing else on offer....
ReplyDeleteOh my husband would not cope! Not one bit. He'd be dustbusting 24/7!
ReplyDeleteAlways have to think twice before typing desert and dessert (always remembering that TWO 's' = seconds...thus that is dessert like yummy after dinner treat. It's the only way & I do it every. single. time!
ReplyDeleteI always remember the spelling by saying desserts are So Sweet and deserts are just Sandy. Which you know. See how easy that is? We have the same issues in the outskirts of Cairo, where I now am.
ReplyDeleteWe didn't have actual sand in Arizona, it was mostly just hardbaked soil that got very dusty with the prevailing winds, but the dust level was always a headache; even worse when we got a dust storm.
ReplyDeleteInteresting to read for those not experiencing this ;). Must not be good for your computer's inner workings; I know the stuff creeps everywhere.
ReplyDeleteWhen we lived in Ghana, West Africa, we experienced the "harmatan" season when winds blow south from the Sahara in December and January. Some days the air is so thick with sand the sky looks yellow-beige and the sun is barely visible - you can actually look right at it without blinding yourself.
And of course the stuff was everywhere. Everything that went wrong was blamed on the harmatan and people were said to go crazy because of it.
Does it end up in your food?
Have a SUPER weekend!
ReplyDeleteI admit it, I have trouble with the word desert too. For my first book launch, I had beautiful posters made up and hung them all over town. I was so proud until a friend called me to tell me I had writen "Amanda encounters a dangerous dessert..." Would that be an exploding chocolate pudding perhaps? I was so embarrassed. But it got a lot of laughs. Hope you are coping with the dust OK.
ReplyDeleteYou always want two desserts (s')!
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