For hours, there was tumult. The mountains to the east became obscured by sand. The winds grew and then diminished, gathered strength again. As it began to clear in the east, storm clouds moved to the mountains on our west. Then, amazingly, rain fell. The flat expanse of pale rusty earth darkened while around us the mountains vanished in gray skies. Rain, wind, rocking, then calm. I opened the door and smelled the earth and the rain. The mountains began to reappear. In the mountains to the west, snow was falling.

I walked to the office around 4:15—out the first time since morning—and found that the Saturday potluck that began at 3pm was winding up. We were urged to come, so I went back for Andre. We ate roast beef, salad, deviled eggs, chocolate cake along with pleasant conversation. At 5, when we walked out into the cool air, spotlit peaks glowed against a gray sky, and the layered clouds rose around and above us.