Sandstorm Blowing In
I was back in the project room, making the best use of the day’s light – and Kuwait truly has great light – when all of a sudden, it was as if I had just put sunglasses on. Big orange sunglasses, blocking out a good half the available light.
Here is what it looks like where I normally take the sunrise photos:
Here are more views:
Looks Like Yesterday
I know this photo looks just like yesterday, but it is different. Today, the clouds are not so heavy on the horizon, and they are heavier overhead. Visibility is lower.
Now here is where I get confused. At 7 in the morning, it is 90°F / 32°C. The high temperature for today is only supposed to reach 93°F / 34°C. If it is this hot at seven in the morning, how can it only go three degrees higher?
More haze. I can barely see the water today.
Sunrise 29 April 2008
I awoke rested this morning, and although the sunrise is getting earlier and earlier, I was up for it. Actual sunrise was a non-event – whatever is on the horizon, and I think it is a thick bank of clouds – the sun didn’t make it through for many minutes. When I first could see it, it was barely there. Looks to me like it will have to fight through a thick cloud of “haze” most of the day.
It’s that haze that worries me. Did we have so much haze last year at this time?
I guess summer is here. It is already 88°F / 31° C at 0600, with an expected high today of 100° F / 38°F.
By Popular Demand
. . . your sunrise this morning at 0545. It looks like it will be a gloriously spectacular day, hot, but not killer hot, maybe in the low 100’s (F) (around 38 C). Not a cloud in the sky. Even the haze on the horizon is light, not that icky dark band you sometimes see. The Gulf is flat and glassy, not the tiniest wave. Freighters are tootling by, bringing all good things to Kuwait.
Tonight is date night, and the beginning of the weekend in Kuwait. I wish you all the happiest of weekends.
Clear Skies
Look at the sky! It’s clear! It looks like it is going to be a gorgeous day today. AdventureMan and I were out for dinner last night and chose a restaurant so that we could eat outside, figuring there won’t be many more evenings where it will be cool enough. Even though it was comfortable, the fly level was high enough to tell us we won’t be eating out much more this “spring.”
It is 68°F / 20°C at 0600 this morning, looking at a forecast high of 98°F / 37°C. Even though it is clear, I am sneezing, so something seems to be in the air.
Here Comes the Sun
What’s that pale, tiny little orb hanging over the horizon? The dust is back, it never really went away:
at 0500 this morning, it was already 75°F / 24°C, with “haze”.
And to lighten the day a little, an oldie but goodie of the same name:
Sunrise, April 20, 2008
As you can see, the day is more clear, but not exactly clear:
At 0600, it is 66°F / 19°C and the high today is expected to be 100°F / 38° C.
It is still very . . . ummm. . . .Hazy(?) Cloudy(?) Dusty (?) on the horizon. Visibility down close to the ground is limited. There is definitely less dust than in the last two days, thanks be to God.
Second Day Sandstorm
Here is what the sun looks like early this morning; you can’t even see the sea, even though you are looking right at it:
Here is what the city looks like early this morning; visibility maybe 100 m?
And after only one day and a half, here is what my cleaning lady faces today:
(That’s my footprint in the dust, if you were wondering) In just one day, in a seemingly air-tight living space, dust coats everything. I am leaving footprints as if in a house abandoned for a year or so!
I actually don’t mind driving in the dust storms, as long as there is some visibility. When it comes in so thick you can’t see 10 meters in front of the car, I have to pull over. Even with the car sealed, and the A/C on, filtering the air, my nose gets stuffy and I feel like I am having trouble breathing. Maybe today is a good day to stay home. 😦
Traffic Watch
Never fear, the Qatteri Cat is on traffic watch today. All is well, you can tell by his relaxed stance. Every now and then, he will utter an alarm – birds come by and taunt him because they are flying freely and he is trapped inside. He’s not smart enough to say “yeh, but I get free food, water and medical care in this gilded cage.” All he knows is that he would love to be free to show those birds a thing or two.
Once, in our Qatar villa, a great big pigeon hit a window and then THUNKED to the ground, not 10 feet from QC, who was allowed in the garden as long as someone was with him. The bird was so big and QC was so astounded, that by the time he decided to go investigate, the bird had recovered consciousness, stood up and shook his wings. He was bigger than QC! As QC thought twice about approaching, the pigeon flew off. I am betting that is about the closest QC has been to a real live bird.
One time (one of many) the Qatteri Cat escaped the yard. This time I knew where he was within the first half hour, because I could hear him crying pitifully. I had to ask a neighbor if I could go into her back yard, and there was QC, high up in a tree, scared and unsure how to get down. There was a wind blowing, and the only thing QC could think of, every time the boughs swayed to a strong gust of wind, was to go higher. He had reached the spot where every gust made him sway like a pendulum. He was terrified.
It took me about an hour to talk him down. First, he had to get over his panic, because his terror was paralyzing him. Second, he didn’t know how to climb down, so he had to turn around, to kind of walk down the tree, which, with gravity, was a very scary thing. He kept turning and then turning back.
(How do you teach a cat to back down a tree?)
Finally, I just kept talking. I locked eyes with him, and every time he would look away, I would say his name, get him focused on me again. Slowly, slowly, he worked his way down (he was up very very high, higher than a ladder could reach). He ended up falling the last 20 feet, but I could catch him. His little heart was beating like thunder, his adrenelin was pumping and I had to hold on to him to get him home. He didn’t want to be held, and I have the scars to prove it.
The neighbor thought I was a nut case, I am sure, but I don’t care. A cat can be so paralyzed by fear that they cling to the tree until they are exhausted and drop to their death. Some cats will figure out how to get down, but not all, and not while a wind is blowing and swaying them back and forth.
As much as I love fresh air, we have to keep the windows closed. He’s a sweet cat. His little brain just goes on hold sometimes. If a bird taunted him, he would be out that window in a heartbeat, no second thoughts, just instinct.
Recent Comments
intlxpatr on Shampoo Ginger tigerbutterya0c5ff1d… on Shampoo Ginger intlxpatr on British Soldier Kidnapped, Esc… John on British Soldier Kidnapped, Esc… intlxpatr on British Soldier Kidnapped, Esc… Wikipedia Donate Button
Amazina
Early Voting in Florida
Here There and Everywhere 