had a whopper of a dust storm last night; it blew in at around eleven in the morning and stuck around until late at night. visibility was greatly reduced and the sky was a sickly gray-yellowish color; in the end much of the dirt settled here and there leaving a fine film of dirt on everything. There was one fatal accident out on the interstate but aside from that, mostly branches falling on cars because of the stiff wind. it was unpleasant to walk in; things blew around on the street; you got sand and dirt in your teeth. driving wasn't much better, because things would come flying out of the alley toward you in a stiff wind, and it's dangerous to stop or swerve suddenly but it's hard to avoid, when you have no idea what's flying at you.

i still write a lot of christmas cards myself, by hand, in spite of having a long letter that basically explains the state of the household for the year. it's taking a long time this year. i should enjoy a long vacation and some time away from work, but for some reason everything is taking too long and i can barely get started on anything. the tree is up, and has lights on it, but isn't decorated; i haven't shopped for anyone in the family, and i've barely finished with the ones i wanted to send off. yesterday in the dust storm i gave the mailman a stack of cards; i hated to make him carry them, but time is running out and it's good to limit the driving you do in this kind of weather. now i'm thinking, should i get the kids involved in decorating? my wife is even further behind. she wanted to put the finest of decorations up, but we're days into having this tree, and still nothing.

you may sense my impatience; actually it's just exhaustion. some of the things about this house, the busy street we pull out into, the ambulances, the neighborhood, wear me out at different rates and overtake me at unexpected times. the dog next door goes on barking jags and this can last hours; one could move to the country i suppose, but then one would always have a couple of vehicles on hand. a lot of stress is related to just being in a new place - people are just different. it takes time to get used to it.