Never Underestimate a Sand Storm

I was told when I first came here that the sand storms could be fearsome in the early spring. Some days when it seems cloudy or foggy outside the students insist that it's in fact dust whipped up by the strong winds off the desert, but I'm never really sure what to make of that. But when my dad was here we got a taste of what was undeniably a sand storm. It started early when we were biking around. At first it was just a dark part of the horizon, sort of like what happens after the sun sets, but this was around noon. It slowly filled up a larger and larger amount of the sky. Not long after I got a panicked call from Lake telling me to seek shelter, I didn't think much of it given that no no was exactly running off the streets. Finally when we were in a small restaurant getting a snack the sand came in earnest. When we biked back in it I feel it being blown at my eyes and in my mouth. It was annoying certainly but no real cause for alarm. After we got back though things got really strange. The sun appeared to be blue through all the sand and the whole sky was orange. I snapped one good picture of a tree just outside my apartment when things were really blowing. Later dad gave a speech to some communication students, the sand had died down significantly by then, and we went to dinner. As we were trying to get the check though I could see it get really bad outside. The whole restaurant suddenly took on this very dusty feeling and everyone who went outside was covering their faces. When we went to bike back the weather was awful. It was hard to have either eye open into the driving sand, and I'm sure it wasn't great for my lungs either. I basically alternated squinting one eye while trying to shield my face from the sand as we made a dash back. It's been days down and I still get a cloud of sand every time I tie my shoes. This may be an interesting spring.

P.S.
Still having great firewall problems the first couple of times I tried to do this post it didn't work, but the stars aligned or something so here it is.