When I was young we called them a willy-willy. Growing up in the Sydney suburbs, they were these small whorls—a vortex of wind that ran along the gutters, picking up spirals of street litter. These days the Aussie Bureau of Meteorology is referring to the will-willy as a Dust Devil* and I kind of like that.
I am also liking the unexpected joys of this roving lifestyle. That includes spending lots of time outdoors. Where once I would be inside the house, at a desk or on the lounge with my laptop—for no reason but because that’s what I did—I am now sitting outside and it is opening my eyes to so much more. (When I talk about ‘sweat trickling down her spine’, I am generally feeling sweat trickling down the spine!)
Nature and the seasons always play a role in my stories. As writers we are taught to utilize all five senses so our characters touch, see, hear, smell and taste (except if you are Paige out of Season of Shadow and Light who lost her sense of smell and taste after a stroke. She was a challenge to write!)
While caravan parks have come with their share of experiences (not to mention characters) nothing has blown my mind more than two months parked in a paddock on in this amazing cattle property in Queensland’s Capricornia region.
Night and day, and every colourful moment in between, is inspiring my 2017 release. Just now one of those willy-willy winds I mentioned above whipped through—and I mean THROUGH—our van site. First as an escalating howl in distant trees. Then I watched in awe as the spiral of dust and leafy debris—at some three metres in height and just as wide—danced across the paddock towards us. I wish there’d been time to capture it with my camera because the way it gathered speed and spectacle it was truly mesmerizing display of mother nature doing her thing.
Okay, so I am easily amused. But when nature puts on a show I am at least outside to be a witness these days.
Loving this life.
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* What is a dust devil?
A dust devil is a localised dust filled vortex similar in shape to a tornado but of much less strength. They differ from dust storms in that they are a more localised and short-lived event. They form due to intense heating at the surface causing a rapid upward movement of parcel of air. This displacement of the surface air causes an inward movement of surrounding air, creating the common spiral shape of the dust devil. Dust devils are generally small in size compared with tornadoes, being about 3-100m in diameter and up to 300m high. Wind speeds inside the vortex reach a maximum of 100km/hr.
BOM: NSW Regional Office, May 2006
