A “Wild West” Wednesday windstorm made its appearance with lots of gusto…dust with dusto…tumbling tumbleweeds and brisk cold winds out of the west!
An unusual storm for this time of year here in Juniper.
With damaging winds that gusted over 65-70 mph as well as dust thick like fog in some places…it was a heck of a storm! Fortunately with the canyon wall behind our house we had some protection from the winds and our CRP thankfully kept the dust down for us.
Late Tuesday afternoon it began with a sudden gust of wicked westerly wind, with dark clouds waiting for their cue to drift in with a hu-rrrummmph…threatening attitude!
Horses are not fond of wind as they are prey animals and keep aware of their surroundings in case they have to flee for their life. When the wind blows the normal usual things they see everyday that are “safe” become unknown shapes…that is when they jump or spook. WB’s horse Buck was on guard…watching closely as the winds were whipping it up pretty good moving sagebrush and bushes that are in his pasture.
And then…while I was setting my camera….”Close Encounters Of The Third Kind” showed up to visit me from 1977.
Threatening clouds were drifting in from the west, seeming to hang in place…almost like it was the preview before the movie…I was never good with scary stuff so quit IT and no it is not really a spaceship hidden in the cloud…with aliens…..
By early Wednesday morning tumbleweeds were rolling and blowing…it was incredible to see so many roll by my window. Where is my long lens WB…and are those dang weeds ours? The roar of the wind told me that it was only a matter of time before the dust would blow.
And blow it did…between the dust and the gusts it was a wild winter weather day in Juniper Canyon.
For unknown reasons the county road department decided it was a good day to blow the dirt off the roads out here…are you kidding?
Annie is not sure about this and wonders what is brush the dirt off the road day anyway?
The flashing lights and equipment were enough to scare her! The wind already had her scared and now in her mind the Big Boogie Man with flashing eyes was coming down the road after her!
Annie ran into her stall while Ms. Melody Calm Heart ran out of her stall to see what was happening. Melody will look and maybe snort…maybe jump once…she is so very trustworthy in her world, she knows that her human (me) is keeping her safe and she is ok…I love love love this girl…I have had lots of horses but never one like her. I hope to get Annie feeling solid like Melody…part of this years training plan in round corral 101.
It blew and blew and blew…all day long…and then finally.
The light began to change and the darkness turned to beautiful skies as all things work together for good…even dust and gusts. We can find the good in every part of our life, if we look:) The sunset was beautiful and simply incredible with the dust particles in the sky that evening,
Golden clouds touched by God Himself…
As I post this today on Saturday, we are under another severe weather watch as the winds are gusting upwards to 60 mph again…we had quite a bit of rain last night but as of this afternoon we are back to seeing dust in the distance again…ugh.
In case you have never seen a tumbleweed…this is a tumbleweed…they have stickers all over them. They grow green with the stickers and when they dry out they break off and the wind carries them away as they tumble off and roll. They can block a road and they can pile up against a wire fence…a few yeas ago I spent a month pulling them out of our New Zealand fences and then burning them in a pile. Songs have been written about them…new swear words were created because of them and they have been used to decorate with twinkle lights in them…I prefer to burn them:)
Leaving you with a smile…hum or sing with me the old cowboy song Tumbling Tumbleweeds…do you know the song?
” The Tumbling Tumbleweeds” by The Sons of the Pioneers
I’m a roaming cowboy riding all day long,
Tumbleweeds around me sing their lonely song.
Nights underneath the prairie moon,
I ride along and sing this tune.
See them tumbling down
Pledging their love to the ground
Lonely but free I’ll be found
Drifting along with the tumbling tumbleweeds.
Cares of the past are behind
Nowhere to go but I’ll find
Just where the trail will wind
Drifting along with the tumbling tumbleweeds.
I know when night has gone
That a new world’s born at dawn.
I’ll keep rolling along
Deep in my heart is a song
Here on the range I belong
Drifting along with the tumbling tumbleweeds.
Sure brings back good memories as I can hear my Dad whistling along to this as we rode together gathering cattle in the mountains…we did not have tumbleweeds there but we had nettles!
Enjoy your weekend where ever you are! Let the end of Winter roar itself out…hang on tight…Spring will be here before we know it!
Hot Rod Cowgirl 
Mar 21, 2012 @ 10:23:18
Nice narrative to some scary stuff! I like the images from “close encounters” 🙂 Now I can’t get tumbling tumbleweeds song out of my head, ha ha. Thanks for liking my post!
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Mar 21, 2012 @ 11:27:48
Hi there:) Thank you for stopping by….I am smiling thinking about you humming along with Tumbling Tumbleweeds:)
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Mar 05, 2012 @ 09:27:09
Thank you 🙂 Sorry it took so long for you to find us but glad you did:) Thanks for stopping in.
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Mar 03, 2012 @ 22:24:31
These photos are beautiful!
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Mar 04, 2012 @ 09:11:08
Hi thank you so much:)
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Feb 28, 2012 @ 04:10:34
Beautiful! I love the wind … and I could hear those old guys singing that song in my ear as I read the lyrics.
The sky has a way of reminding us how small we are, doesn’t it?
Your photos are spectacular!
MJ
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Feb 28, 2012 @ 09:32:50
🙂 Thank you MJ. I love watching the weather and sky….this year has been a weird clouds for her year so it has been fun for me….my hubby will be yakking to me and all of a sudden I run out the door with my camera…he has caught on now and helps me watch:)
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Feb 27, 2012 @ 07:52:36
Those wind storms/dust storms are just amazing. I remember when I first moved here, I was driving home from Albuquerque and one hit. It had rained a bit before, but now it was just dirt everywhere, and my car ended up covered from bumper to bumper with mud.
It was just sooooo cool. 🙂
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Feb 27, 2012 @ 08:40:31
Oh that sounds messy…..I love watching the weather as it can do some great and interesting things….we are blessed here to not have tornados or super bad weather….but the last year has been interesting as we are having different weather….yesterday no dust just a breeze and incredible clouds that I shot….this morning we have a skiff of snow….that you for stopping in:)
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Feb 27, 2012 @ 09:13:44
I love watching weather too. It’s wonderful to see how it moves. 🙂 I forgot to say that I loved your photos in this post and your words too. Beautiful! 🙂
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Feb 27, 2012 @ 09:24:50
Thank you so much:)
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Feb 26, 2012 @ 16:32:23
wow you get the same kind of clouds we do in Colorado. We are where the plains hits the mountains. Love the pictures.
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Feb 26, 2012 @ 17:48:05
This year has been a weird weather year for us. For me I am loving it as it gives me lots of fun and different photos…our weather has reminded me more of WY. when we lived there. I bet you have awesome views in Colorado:) Thank you for stopping in:)
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Feb 26, 2012 @ 07:41:08
I found your lovely blog via JW Edwards, glad I did. Spectacular photos! Today in Arizona I’m getting ready for WIND predicted tomorrow.
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Feb 26, 2012 @ 10:48:46
Thank you and welcome to my blog:) Do you have wind with blowing sand or dust like we do here? I am gonna hop over to your site:) Thanks much:)
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Feb 26, 2012 @ 15:04:16
Oh yeah… and what a mess that is.
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Feb 26, 2012 @ 15:57:27
Today we do not have wind but instead had snow squalls..never a dull moment:)
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Feb 25, 2012 @ 22:17:28
Reblogged this on Ash's Blog and commented:
Wild Wednesday! Calm but Spicy wild 😉
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Feb 25, 2012 @ 22:30:53
Thank You:)
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Feb 25, 2012 @ 22:33:04
Pleasure 🙂
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Feb 25, 2012 @ 22:33:27
…. and thank you too.
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Feb 25, 2012 @ 22:53:19
🙂 you are welcome.
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Feb 25, 2012 @ 18:24:43
He hheeee… loved this post. Yessir… I remember the Sons of The Pioneers and I remember that song. I think I’ll look for it on Youtube as soon as I wrap things up here… those sky/cloud shots were fantastic. I had a tumble weed for a Christmas tree the first Christmas I was seperated from husband and children. All of 3 ornaments on it, I believe. Around here (Nebraska) we say the only thing that stops the wind from Canada to here, is the barbed wire.
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Feb 25, 2012 @ 18:50:24
I love the quote…LOL…and I have had the song playing through my head too so I finally went to iTunes and bought it…did not think of YT…good idea:)
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Feb 29, 2012 @ 09:36:39
Well, I went and got on YouTube and you know how that goes… one video after another and ‘fore I knew it, an hour had gone by. I enjoyed the old western songs, though.
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Feb 29, 2012 @ 17:30:03
I know what you mean….how does time go so dang fast anymore:)
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Feb 25, 2012 @ 18:09:24
Wow – your photos are amazing…..!! I love the one of Annie raring. I hate that she was spooked, but it’s a fascinating picture.
We’re in the Outer Banks of NC today, and the wind has been gusting here all day too.
Hope your weather calms down and that you don’t have anything severe!
Your Melody sounds like a sweet girl.
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Feb 25, 2012 @ 18:47:53
Thank you much:)
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Feb 25, 2012 @ 16:14:51
Your cloud pictures are super unusual for that area aren’t they? Those were *some* winds! Sounds like March is banging on your door there!
We got a gorgeous spring type snow all day yesterday, about eight inches worth. I took some pictures of it both yesterday and today, be posting them eventually….So stinkin’ pretty but not near as pretty as most everything you’ve shared here!
Happy Rest of The Weekend!
~d.
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Feb 25, 2012 @ 16:19:55
I can’t wait to see your pictures of the snow….it sounds so peaceful and pretty:) We have had vey unusual clouds for almost a year…very different for this area and I do not remember having them before. I have loved it with the photo opportunities:) Thanks for stopping in and you have a happy weekend too:)
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Feb 25, 2012 @ 15:51:04
New Zealand? I could have sworn you were taking pictures of my boyhood home in Idaho! Your pictures are beautiful! Thank you for sharing them.
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Feb 25, 2012 @ 16:04:59
Hello and nice to meet you. No we are in Eastern Oregon…but we have what they call New Zealand wire fence…it is a smooth wire and we use it instead of barb wire. Tumble weeds love to hang up in wire fences! Thank you for stopping in:)
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Feb 25, 2012 @ 16:24:29
Good grief Ma’am, I feel a bit foolish. lol We call the same wire ‘high tensil’. I haven’t seen barbwire used in years. It took me over a year to replace the 13 miles of barbwire fence on the ranch I once worked at. I still carry the scars! Oh how them tumbleweeds do tumble! (curses to them and the dang dust storms that blow em around.)
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Feb 25, 2012 @ 16:38:04
I hear ya on barbwire…nasty stuff…13 miles of that would be hard on a person for sure:) Not sure why they call it NZ fence around here?
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Feb 25, 2012 @ 17:03:08
Maybe the folks there had better sense than we did here and began using it first 🙂
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Feb 25, 2012 @ 17:06:45
🙂
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