Windy day today....

Our Location: Near American Girl Mine Road, BLM, CA

 

A coldish night, not cold but colder than cool. You know the kind I mean, coldish. The wind was around all night or at least when I fell asleep last night and it was still there this morning. I stayed in bed reading and didn't bother with the sunrise. It would be too cold for me and I was thinking about all of the dust in the air. 

 

 

Sunset last night.

Last gasp.

Darkness approaches.

 

Sure enough when I looked out the window we couldn't see the mountains to the west of us. We could see the Imperial Sand Dunes all day but not the mountains behind. The dust in the air obscured them and only on occasions did we see hints of them, outlines in the murk. 

 

This is what it normally looks like. The tan ridge in the front is the Imperial Sand Dunes.

 

Only the dunes are visible today. A hint of the mountains behind but only a hint. Pretty much like this all day.

 

The sun was wonderful all day but temps reached 60F/15.5 C with a steady  north wind, with some bigger gusts this afternoon, so not a warm day by desert standards. Toward the hills way off in the distance we could some haze in the air as well. Steady wind would mean dust and I wasn't going to take the camera out for that. 

 

The tan of course is the Imperial Sand Dunes.

A little more definition in this photo.

 

A day spent putzing and reading while doing some research on a few things as well. A nice day but we closed all the windows and vents for the day as it was chilly with the wind whipping in through them. 

 

Amazing how you can't see anything back behind the dunes, isn't it?

 

Thanks for stopping by, I hope you enjoyed your day. 

 

Until next time.. take care, be safe, 

 

Deb

 

 

 

Happy Thanksgiving ....

Our Location: Near American Girl Mine Road, BLM, CA

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone, American or Canadian or any others that may be reading this. It's been a quiet day here at the Igloo. A physically restful type of day. 

This welcome to Yuma sign was NOT taken with my phone a few days ago.

 

Our morning started with sunny skies and little wind, a temp of about 50F/10C to start the day. Rain and winds were in the forecast for later but this morning it looked wonderful. 

No it not a jack knifed tractor trailer. They disconnected and the trailer is being used as a living space. It has a vent and at least a couple of solar panels up there. No sign of stairs or a smaller door, no windows either but the tractor leaves while the trailer stays.

A few housekeeping chores and I spent a great deal of time posting, answering posts, commenting and doing some emails this morning. In fact the morning was pretty much filled with those things. We did however prep lunch as well. 

I have no idea what this is but it's located not far from us at an empty site with only a fire ring to keep it company.

Riley and I even ventured out for a walk this afternoon putting in a good half hour. A few rain drops tried to hasten our pace but with only 3 drops we didn't hurry along much. 

 

The thorns of the Ocotillo, The Devils Walking Stick.

It was after our lunch of Hickory Chicken Breast, stuffing and green beans with mushrooms that the day clouded over, the dust started showing in the air, the wind picked up and of course the sun in a valiant effort to make itself known peaked through at various times but it was a battle being fought off and on all the rest of the day. 

A dead Ocotillo, simply ripped out of the ground but a few smaller ones near by to carry on the living process.

Around 4:30 pm the wind was slackening off and the dust was starting to settle but within the hour the dust started showing off again and the sky was pretty much a mass of clouds.  According to the weather folks the winds should start easing up in the next hour and the rain may start in a couple of hours but nothing of any major amount here where our little Igloo sits.  So hopefully our weather system will pass in a few more hours and we can expect a more settled day tomorrow. 

This is the left over evidence of an almost bloom on an Ocotillo.

The feathery appearance of a bloom.

 

Today's photos were all taken with my phone on our walk (except the first one). I managed with some effort to put in a bit over 2 miles. All on the flat of course, no climbing. Maybe in a couple of days I'll try a bit longer and a bit more varied route and see how things go. 

The stump of this Palo Verde tree is very big even if the tree doesn't have a singular trunk.

As I write this post it is shortly after 5:30 pm Mountain time and the wind is at it's most gusty, the dust is now hanging in the air once again and there doesn't appear to be any hope of seeing a sunset so I will not delay this posting to hope for good sunset photos. If we see one I'll post the photos tomorrow. The first splatters of rain are now falling.

I am certain I posted a photo of this last year as well. Left at one of the many sites here.

 

We hope you all had a wonderful, safe and enjoyable day, where ever you may be. To our family and friends, you have crossed our minds many times today, even if we are not together we wish all of you the warmth, love and support of good family and friends not just on this day of Thanksgiving, but each and every day all year long. George and Suzie being in our thoughts often on this day, just as they are every day. 

We see this out the window from farther away and it always looks like a rabbit.

Until next time... take care, be safe, 

But on closer inspection, it's not!

 

Deb