Wind blows

It's a fact of life here in the Great Plains that the wind blows. The only questions are how hard and from what direction.

Yesterday was one of those days that the answers were "very hard" and "out of the south-southwest." It's not so bad when you don't have to be out in it. You just have to listen to the buildings creaking and windows moving slightly with the gusts. If you're out in it, though, it can be painful.

I was at a softball game yesterday afternoon. When the wind gusted, the infield dirt moved. Waves of it shifted. Where I was standing to take pictures, I happened to be in the path of many of those gusts, and by the time I got home, I felt like I needed to take a shower. At times, I could barely see the batter, there was so much dirt in the air. The players even paused sometimes until the dirt stopped blowing so hard. Little pieces of grit pummeled all of us who were there - I even had grit in my teeth. Yuck!

I don't think we're to Dust Bowl standards though. That was an extreme case and one I hope I never have to witness. I just can't imagine that much dirt in the air for that long. The dirt clogged people's lungs, killing some. It killed animals, burying their food so they starved to death. People couldn't even keep their homes clean because the dirt seeped in through every small crack and covered the insides of houses. It must have been awful for those who lived through it.

When I think about that, yesterday wasn't so bad. It wasn't fun to be out in, but it could have been a whole lot worse.