Desert Wind

Roses in Front of an Adobe Wall (Click on image to zoom in.)

An epidemic of houses covers the desert plain and the wind is angry. No longer can it sweep unimpeded over the landscape. Everywhere it rushes, there are obstructions. Frustrated, it beats against the homes' windows and hoots down chimney pipes.

It flings itself against our house, bits breaking off and leaping the adobe wall, angry little gusts that tangle with the leaves and stems of the big lilac bush. But the native sagebrush is delighted by the attention. It bows demurely and tiny gray leaves shiver with delight.

Dust is everywhere. Sand is pushed in waves over the ground until it finally breaks in gritty tan sprays. Sometime around midnight, however, the wind loses interest and the air is suddenly still.

In the morning, there is still a little evidence of the wind: tiny sand dunes in the bottom of the horse's feeder; nectar from the hummingbird feeder splattered on the porch's concrete, a host of ants already lost to a sugar orgy. Reduced to a benevolent breeze, slow air currents caress the chocolate flowers and the yard smells like a Hershey bar.


Chocolate Flower with Thread Leaf Sagebrush in the Background

All images copywrite 2005 Patricia Kirby