“We were supposed to fly from El Paso to Albuquerque, but my boss insisted on driving instead, a challenging aspect in the face of 55 mph winds. The drive became an encounter with one of those dust storms circa 1934 (like from a Lange photo where an entire town is about to get swallowed by a mile-high cloud of sand and other brown debris). On the way out of town, the dust storm merged with a thunder head. For the first time in my life, I experienced mud raining down on my windshield.”

Yeah, that Southwest weather is something to be reckoned with.

And on an entirely unrelated note, please thank Kyle for his suggestion of Pappy Van Winkle bourbon. Your husband is a man of exquisite taste and rare wisdom; indeed, a gentleman and a scholar.