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Eryah Charguia: the winds of summer
21st of October 2023
We felt storms all night until the next day. Sitting in the garden early morning, you almost get blown away by the wind. The mountain ridge - a familiar view when you enter the gardens - is now hidden behind a veil of sand and dust. During summer nights, when we sleep outside, we often wake up with sand everywhere: mouth, eyes, nose and ears are full and the beds are carrying little sand dunes. It is something you get used to - after a while.
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We call these strong winds ‘Eryah charguia’, which means ‘the winds come from the place where the sun rises’ (’ryah’ means wind, ‘charg’ means the place where the sun rises). They are the pre- and after summer sandstorms and they always come from a particular direction. The first storms start around March or April, the last storms around October or November. The strongest storms occur in mid summer and the whole sky turns orange and red from the sand.
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These winds don’t happen without a reason. From March to April is the time for the female palms to get pollinated. The strong winds help spreading the male palm flowers. At the same time, the storms pushes the last bit of cold temperatures away and the heat starts. During all summer, the dates grow and get ripe due to the heat and hot winds.
The end of summer is marked by several other heavy sandstorms, often happening around October. This is the same season where the dates are ripe and ready to be harvested. The storms make sure that a large part of the dates fall down, the rest is taken down by hand. The last hot air is carried away by the winds and winter can start.
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Eryah Charguia: the winds of summer
21st of October 2023
We felt storms all night until the next day. Sitting in the garden early morning, you almost get blown away by the wind. The mountain ridge - a familiar view when you enter the gardens - is now hidden behind a veil of sand and dust. During summer nights, when we sleep outside, we often wake up with sand everywhere: mouth, eyes, nose and ears are full and the beds are carrying little sand dunes. It is something you get used to - after a while.
We call these strong winds ‘Eryah charguia’, which means ‘the winds come from the place where the sun rises’ (’ryah’ means wind, ‘charg’ means the place where the sun rises). They are the pre- and after summer sandstorms and they always come from a particular direction. The first storms start around March or April, the last storms around October or November. The strongest storms occur in mid summer and the whole sky turns orange and red from the sand.
These winds don’t happen without a reason. From March to April is the time for the female palms to get pollinated. The strong winds help spreading the male palm flowers. At the same time, the storms pushes the last bit of cold temperatures away and the heat starts. During all summer, the dates grow and get ripe due to the heat and hot winds.
The end of summer is marked by several other heavy sandstorms, often happening around October. This is the same season where the dates are ripe and ready to be harvested. The storms make sure that a large part of the dates fall down, the rest is taken down by hand. The last hot air is carried away by the winds and winter can start.
