Harmatan

The harmatan has effectively been blown away. For those who don't know...the harmatan is the fine dust that is blown down from the Sahara Desert on a yearly basis. It hangs in the air making it difficult to see normal things like...the sun...and it puts layers of dust on everything it comes in contact with. For example, when it was here I could wipe the kitchen counter 4-5 times a day and each time the cloth would be dark brown with the dust. It does play havoc with the sinuses. But the nice thing about it is that b/c it hangs in the air and blocks the sun, the temperatures are quite cool for here and there is little humidity. About last Tuesday, I woke up and knew that the harmatan was starting to leave b/c I could feel the rise in humidity (yes otherwise known as starting to sweat). So now it is pretty much gone and we are about to enter -from what I am told- the hottest part of the year. Apparently Feb-April are going to be scorchers. Yikes. I am learning that we have three basic seasons here sweat, dust and rain:) It will be great once we get our first good rain b/c it will clear the dust from trees and plants and fresh new growth will be everywhere. I can already see new leaves on the bushes from a slight rain we had on Saturday. Ok the weather lesson is over.

(You can see from the picture that the lake and hills right in front of where I am standing to take the picture are barely visible. That is b/c of the harmatan. Normally they are crystal clear.)