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This blog is dedicated to Malta - my island home. My aim is not to bore you with history but to share my thoughts and a few facts together with a photo or two. For a more in -depth background of the island please go here. The purpose of this blog is not to point out the short-comings of the island. There are plenty that do that already. My wish is to show you the beauty of an island at the cross roads of the Mediterranean, a melting pot of history; a place where fact and fiction are sometimes fused to create unique myths and legends; a country that has been conquered so many times that our culture is a mish mesh of the lands that surround us and of lands far away. I confess that my greatest desire is to make you fall in love with this tiny enchanting island.

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Monday 23 May 2011

Sandstorms – The Birth Pangs of Summer

This is what the weather looked like today.

Sandstorm (1)

The clouds are full of sand which travels across the Mediterranean all the way from the Sahara desert on the wings of strong winds. Known as the scirocco, this wind is usually warm and rather clammy as the hot desert air travels northward and picks up moisture from the sea. When it gets here, some rain falls. Big orange drops, which quickly dry up leaving spots over everything that is left outside.

Sandstorm (3)

Sandstorms,

thunderstorms,

dusty rain,

gale force winds,

overcast skies,

rough seas,

warm days,

cool nights -

all herald the birth of balmy summer days.

Sandstorm (4)

8 comments:

  1. Wonderful illustration of a mythical wind!

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  2. hmm...i've never seen orange raindrops.

    it's starting to feel humid here too. in fact, this whole week will be humid.

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  3. Loree, that is fascinating! What a magical land and I love both your prose and your photos.

    Bises,
    Genie

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  4. Your sandy, sunless sky images portray your season well, Loree. It's been overcast here for several days, but the sun peeped out this morning!

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  5. I hate these sandstorms we're having. Just when I get our yard cleaned up it rains and everything is muddy again. I think I might just give up for now haha

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  6. Beautiful prose, imagery and photos...i am captured!
    Kiki

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  7. i had no idea... this is fascinating. i don't think i would like dusty rain, though...

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  8. Oh, so that's what a scirocco is! What a fascinating place you live in, although it does sound a little messy during sandstorm season.

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