Wednesday, October 8, 2008

Dusty Day

We've hit that time of year where the weather is becoming erratic here. In Kabul we are now seeing daily highs in the low to mid-70's and lows in the 40's. But everything can change in minutes.

We also felt the tremors from two earthquakes further north in Kyrgyzstan Sunday night and Monday morning.


The sun climbing over the mountains east of Kabul.
The day started out pleasant enough. Cool with a light breeze.



By afternoon, locals were watching the wind coming in from the north.
It looked like we might get some rain.
The breeze was cool and there was that rain scent in the air.



Instead we got dust!
Market down by the Kabul River.



The pedestrian bridge over the river.



On a clear day, this hill looks like this.



Yesterday, it looked like this.



Slightly different angle.



The sun was barely a spot in the gray-brown sky.
This is at 4 PM.

8 comments:

Travis Erwin said...

Who knew? Kabul and the Texas Panhandle have the same exact weather pattern.

Charles Gramlich said...

We had dust almost like this around our place this last week. FInally it rained yesterday.

Vodka Mom said...

those shots are beautiful, but I find myself coughing just looking at the dust! be safe....

The Muse said...

I lived in Phoenix a long time ago. Once I was driving to Tuscon and got caught in a dust storm. You could not see 1 foot in front of you...I had to pull over and wait it out. When it started to clear, there was another car parked behind me. I mean right behind me, within centimeters of my car, crooked!

J.L., there were cars everywhere. IH 10 looked like a parking lot.

After that, I decided it was time to move back home to Texas.

When do you get to come home?

Barbara Martin said...

Those dust storms look eerie. I've never seen one except in the movie "Hidalgo".

Ello - Ellen Oh said...

I've missed you! I've been very busy these days but now I can breathe again. How are you doing? These photos are incredible.

Gary said...

Your Niece Katie, my Daughter-In-Law, sent me your site. I am enjoying your pictures and commentary. I look forward to hearing more of your perspectives, opinions, and gain more insight on our challenges there. Thanks for taking the time to share your experiences.

J. L. Krueger said...

Travis,

But I'll bet Kabul gets a lot more snow!

Charles,

We are still waiting for rain, or something wet. It's rained in the mountains north of Kabul, but the clouds are rung out by the time we get them.

Vodka Mom,

Respiratory ailments are pretty common in places like this. You typically see the locals all "masked up" by the time things have been blowing for more than a few minutes.

Muse,

I've been in several of those "movie-like" sandstorms where you see the wall of sand coming. Kabul mostly just gets the very fine dust since the mountains ringing the valley break up the worst of it.

Tentatively I'll be home in July 2009, unless I extend for a bit longer.

Barbara,

The sand and dust gets into everything. All you can do is shake everything out when it's over. You wind up with mud-cake make-up around your eyes, nose and mouth even if you had them covered.

El!

Missed you too! I've been a bit slower on putting stuff up. I've been doing some heavy writing too. Finished the endings for my next two books, working on the middles now. I sorta like having a "target" to work toward.

Gary,

Thanks for stopping by. Do come back often. Sometime we'll also need to go over the genealogy stuff for your family line that I worked on before I left for Afghanistan.