If there's one thing Arizona has in abundance it's dust. Most of the particulate pollution here is dust.

It's amazing how the cycle of nature all interrelates. Dust here, melts snow faster there - we may pick up a better monsoon season if more moisture is in the air - which would then reduce the dust problem somewhat next year and keep the snowpack in better shape.

It's all about balance. Nature is amazing.

I think what I love most about the desert is the wind. Sure the winds are fierce sometimes on the coasts, but they never quite have the romantic quality of monsoon winds in the desert. The stereotypical howling of the desert wind, like the saguaro, seems to be a local Arizona phenomenon.

Standing above the beach during a stormy gale and watching the wind create 12 and 15 foot waves pounding the shore, and see the tide rise above the barriers (threatening to grab and drown anyone caught in the fierce tide) is invigorating and scary too, but hearing the desert wind at 3 am howling through the cacti and blowing dust clouds everywhere, obscuring a clear sky in a matter of minutes is just as invigorating - just in a different way.

;-)