Dust Devils on The Road

I was driving along a rural desert road on my way to work last week when the car was suddenly engulfed in a maelstrom of swirling dust, cactus debris and weeds.  "Yikes, I've been hit by a dust devil," I thought as I clung to the steering wheel for about 15 seconds without seeing where I was going.  And then, just like that, the mini-tornado continued on its vortex course across the road and beyond and driving conditions instantly reverted back to normal.

The Arizona Vacation Planner calls dust devils "ephemeral whirlwinds (that) can stir up trouble."  They are a weather phenomenon that occurs under sunny conditions during fair weather.  They rarely do damage and usually dissipate in less than a minute.  

I got to thinking about people who are like dust devils-they whirl in, drop a few choice words on you and whirl back out again, except your "driving conditions' don't revert back to normal instantly.  Instead, you are left puzzling over what just happened and feeling quite upset about whatever course of action you were on before the appearance of the "dust devil."  You now have lingering doubts about whether or not you are on the right road.

This happens with families a lot.   We might be making plans for the future of an older adult or plans for a family reunion and suddenly a "dust devil" who has not been previously involved with decision making, swoops in, makes some suggestion or comment

and leaves again, causing everybody to question previous decisions. 

Sometimes, dust devils play a necessary role.  They cause you to question or refocus and may have a valid point.   At other times, however, they can create brief, but unnecessary chaos.  

We all have dust devils around.  They may not be on a desert road, but they are there, waiting for just the right conditions to make an appearance.  The Navajos believe they are the ghosts or spirits of dead Navajos.  Depending upon which direction they spin, they can be good spirits or bad spirits.  I suppose it is up to us to determine in which direction our dust devils are spinning!