THE WEST SIDE OF SHOVELING

The following is an excerpt from the Desert Sun newspaper. (It was written by Benjamin Spillman and published on February 9, 2004.)

"Charles Hough doesn’t use a broom and dustpan to clear his patio after a strong breeze. The retired Cathedral City man fires up a collection of high-powered vacuums, a fleet of reinforced push carts and a gasoline-fueled, power broom with a heavy duty, rotating brush.

That’s because the high winds that buffet Hough’s home on Ventura Drive carry sand -- literally tons of it -- onto the patio, into an empty pool and under his roof tiles.

'I work dawn till dusk after every sandstorm,' said Hough, whose home is separated from the open desert by a row of trees and a huge sand dune. 'In a dry year when the wind is blowing, I can get… tons of sand in my yard and on my roof in one long weekend.'"