Spring is surely around the corner...the Yellow Sand is here.

In what has become an annual, unwelcome harbinger of spring, 黄砂 has begun to arrive from the Asian mainland. Not sure what I mean? Here, look:
(Picture from 2001)

Starting in the deserts of Mongolia, and blowing all across southeastern Asia, Asian dust brings with it reduced visibility, increased asthma attacks, dirty cars, dirty laundry, and a heck of a lot of annoyance. It makes me wonder why so many people and organizations in Japan have white cars.

The Japanese name for this crud, 黄砂, translates directly as "Yellow sand". In fact, in most of the languages around here the name for it translates the same.

Could be worse. I could still be living in Kagoshima, where the local volcano has been spouting ash a lot lately. Of course, I lived on the other side of a range of hills from Mount Sakurajima, so I was never really affected by that.