Insandity – This Is What A Sandstorm Looks Like

I walked home from a friend’s house last night in weather I’d only previously seen in movies. Movies like The Mummy. A sandstorm is much the same as a snowstorm, while the wind howls in your ears your vision is impaired with tiny specks dotted throughout the sky. The difference with a sandstorm though is the grit, the grit that layers your skin, your teeth, the inside of your nose, and the back of your throat. The video at night doesn’t do it justice, but here’s a snippet I found this morning.

This morning the little travellers came in with the excitement of Christmas “Mum! Mum! Wait until you see outside! It’s brown, everything’s brown and there’s a HUGE sandstorm”. I reached over to my bedside table to check my phone and read a text from school letting me know it was cancelled. Oh joy.

Now it was exactly like Christmas, although a weird kind of Easter Christmas. Whoops were made, jumps were had, someone raced into the teenager’s room (a brave exercise at 6am) “School’s cancelled! School’s cancelled!” squealed the second traveller. The teen remained motionless, an invisible heap under a duvet, a muffled groan was heard. We exited from the room backwards, slowly, in much the same way you would if you’d spotted a grizzly on an afternoon stroll.

I made my way to the balcony to assess the damage.

And then opened the front door

 

I opened the back door, and realised I was making my own “line in the sand” in the kitchen.

Everything in the backyard was covered in a layer of sand. The flowers…

The windows…

Even the beagle! That grass was green yesterday.

The thing about sandstorms is that even with the windows and doors closed the sand somehow makes its way into the house. I wrote my name on the top of the toaster, drew a love heart on the Kitchen Aid, but I almost lost my sense of humour when I saw the state of the Nespresso. On social media people shared their view of the street.

And then someone said getting to work looked a bit like this

On the flipside, while the texts and weather warnings rolled in, while the government suggested we stay inside our houses and hospitals talked of respiratory issues. While people called it the worst sandstorm in fifty years. While the weekend parties were postponed and events cancelled, a follow up email came through from a group of parents (mothers mainly) who were running the tuckshop/canteen/concession stand (depending on where you come from) this weekend for a softball tournament which appears to be going ahead. I’ve planned my outfit, I’ll be on the bleachers looking something like this.

After the 80kgs of mince is collected by a couple of women this morning (women who I swear if there is a coup I’ll be heading straight to their house to find out what to do next), a team of women will meat (pardon the pun) to roll roughly 600 burgers for the softball tournament. I’d only said yesterday that I’d be there at two this afternoon and ladies, even if I have to hire a camel, I’ll be there. I think this is going to be an absolute giggle.

Good luck out there today people! And if you need a burger this weekend I know exactly where to find one.