Dusty with a chance of dust

Had some SERIOUS dust storms this week.  The pictures really don’t do the storm justice as the before I have is not entirely clear – I’ll try to get one in the next day or two and update the blog even though it will violate my routine of only updating this on Sundays.  You also don’t get an appreciation for the colors.  When you look at sand in a normal state, say on a beach, it has a tan tint, right?  Now imagine that is all around you in the air in suspension – everything has that tan tint, so when you leave a tent with fluorescent lighting (with a blue tint since we have bulbs supplied by the lowest bidder) it is quite a shock to go out into this yellow world.  That dust and grit gets everywhere, in your mouth, eyes, nose, ears, and leaves a fine layer on everything once the wind dies down.  It also creates a haze in some buildings, most notably the dining facility.  For whatever reason the a/c setup in that building sucks in dust and swirls it around the place.  Sunglasses are a must, and lots of people wear dust masks or balaclavas (look it up).  Naturally my opinion is a bit different from most others – we breathe this stuff in every day as it is, this week we could just see it better.  Plus I am sure my body is fighting whatever toxins are in the air so I am only becoming stronger, which is bad news for evildoers.

Before

After

Another milestone passed for me this week as the Red Sox started the season in Yankee Stadium.  It is hard to get excited for baseball right now, though.  The NCAA tournament is coming to an end, the hockey and basketball playoffs are getting ready to start up and frankly the Red Sox were not only horrible last year but not at all likeable.  The teams of my youth were fun to follow all through the 70s and even the mostly mediocre teams of the early 80s had guys like Yaz, Dewey and then Wade Boggs.  The 2012 team was just awful and this team has a lot of new faces that make it difficult to know what they will be like, and I have not been able to follow them through Spring training like I usually do at home.  Yet another milestone is coming up – the only morning game on the whole major league schedule – the annual Patriot’s Day home game played concurrently with the running of the Boston Marathon.  That is what is great about baseball, there are all these idiosyncrasies like that:  the Wall, rally caps, the designated hitter in one league but not the other, and the ivy on the outfield walls at Wrigley that keep me interested and intrigued.  Interested but not excited yet, although reliving moments like this are a start.

Oh, and one more milestone this week!  This is the last immediate family birthday I will miss!  Unfortunately the birthday happens to be that of my lovely wife.  On the bright side Kevin, Allison and Dylan will be there on the day and then Glen, Kristen, Leah and Kelly will be there during the weekend after.  I am sure the kids have everything well in hand…

The beast is gone!