mud storm

Have you ever seen mud falling from the sky, splattering as it makes contact with a solid object? I thought not.

As if the triple-digit degree temperatures and the sand storms weren't enough, we had rain today. It hardly ever rains. In fact, it's entirely possible to go so long in between storms to forget what thunder sounds like. I must have sat in my bunk for half an hour, thinking that the booming thunder was noise related to construction. Then the rain started to fall. Soft at first, like the kind of rain that's nice to fall asleep to. That didn't last long. The noise got so loud that I decided to poke my head outside of the barracks to get a peek.

The sky was yellow. Always a bad sign -- it only looks like that during a sand storm. Very windy, very warm wind but not like a blow dryer pointed right in your face. And the rain! Coming down hard, much harder than usual, and hitting everything at an angle. A Soldier ran down the sidewalk, seeking shelter. I closed the door and retreated back to my bunk.

When I could no longer hear the rain on the roof, I ventured out. It hardly looked like it had rained. However, everything that the rain had hit was covered in either mud or dirt. This, ladies and gentlemen, is what happens when it rains during a sand storm.

I don't think I'll miss this "unique" feature of desert weather at all.