Sand storm brewing?

I love this fountain. The blue tile, the lovely falling water. Water is such a luxury in the desert. Plus, it is next to an excellent place to get a burger and fries at Madinat Jumeirah. This 8-point star pattern, I think, is a way of representing 'completeness'. From what I know, there are no official symbols within Islam. But, we do associate the crescent moon and the star with Islam. Also, we see this 8-point pattern everywhere. We have even seen homes constructed in the shape of this type of star. We've had a lovely day here. Started with a late morning run into the Satwa district to go fabric shopping. Bought fabric for a nice start to my next quilt project. Fabrics were running 5 dirhams to 8 dirhams a yard. That's about $1.50 - $2 US per yard. I bought some red satin to play with for $1.50/yard! Too much fun! We had lunch at Souq Madinat Jumeirah. A very touristy place, but the restaurants are good, and the atmosphere is very nice. For those of you making the trip here, you will need to spend an hour or so at Souq Madinat Jumeirah (but spend your money at the Blue Souq!). And, for you more adventuresome folks, we'll go explore Satwa. Really great local fun stuff. We also made a stop at a local dive shop to check prices. I may be buying a new snorkel/dive mask over Christmas. I've had mine since about 1993. The rubber/silicone stuff on it is very stiff. I get major mask squeeze (yes, it's worse now - if that's possible) trying to keep it from leaking. The ones here were around 200 dirhams or $60 US. It's been so long since I've bought one, I don't know if that's a good price or not for TUSA. I was hoping to snorkel this afternoon, but now that we're home, the wind is really blowing. Sand everywhere. The water is very choppy, and I can tell visibility on 'our' little stretch of beach is quite low at the moment. Looks like a thunderstorm, but it's all sand blowing. If I went out now, I'd wear a light headscarf with a piece over my nose and mouth. Keeps the grit out of my teeth. If I sit in front of the A.C., I can imagine it's snow blowing instead of sand. It's still 106 F outside or about 41 C.