Dust

We've definitely turned the corner from summer into autumn.  At last the weather has slid solidly into the 70's with only an occasional spike into the 80's.  When I drive to school in the mornings, wavering lines of geese cross over the road in front of me.  The pomegranates and olives are ripe and the tupelo leaves are beginning to turn orange and red. But, never satisfied, I'm now waiting for that first blessed rain of the season.  It'll be awhile.

My school is surrounded by almond orchards.  This sounds like a lovely thing to have on the other side of the fence from a playground, but at this time of year the nuts are harvested.  Getting them off the trees involves machines that are pressed against the trunks of the trees that shake loose the nuts so that they all fall to the ground at once.  Unfortunately, this process also shakes loose vast clouds of dust.  A brown haze of the stuff sweeps over the playground and across the parking lot.  This afternoon I thought I was getting sick, I was coughing so much.  Finally I figured out that this was only because I was breathing in so much filth from the orchards.  Once again, I was wishing I lived in an area that had summer rain -- at least enough to occasionally wash the dust off the leaves of the trees.  When I got in my car to leave this afternoon, there was such a thick layer on the windshield that I had to turn on the wipers in order to clear a space for me to see out.  The dust billowed off in impressive clouds behind me as I drove off. 

Rain...I'm so ready.