In the dust storm

When I woke up Wednesday morning, I was surprised to see the colour of the sky out the window. It was a murky brown colour, like we were in a soup. At first, I thought there was bushfire in the hills, but then I heard the radio reports: Coffs was disappearing from view from the lofty windows of the radio station.

This is what the sun looked like when I left home:

At work, we watched the sky stay brown all day. It was eerie – we’d landed in some strange universe or a post-apocalyptic world. And yet on the inside, everything was functioning as normal. But the building wasn’t sealed, and the dust started seeping in gradually during the day. By the afternoon, my throat was dry and my eyes were starting to water.

Driving home, I was amazed by the sun. It was a big white orb, glimpsed through the trees. When I reached the valley, I stopped to take another sun picture – looking like a full moon.

Apparently my cat spent the whole day hiding under the bed. He knew better than to try to go out in a dust storm.

Thursday morning – the sky was blue again. But everything is still dusty. And they predict more to come.