My Own Private Dustbowl

We have been fortunate here in the Pacific Northwest not to be slammed with the horrific heat waves that have afflicted much of the rest of our country. We've had some scorchers, mind you, but none of the deadly variety. Yet, anyway.

But what we (okay, I) do have is a dust bowl. In my backyard. Adjacent to the patio. Largely thanks to four wrestling (& occasionally digging) dogs, the grass in that area has vanished and left behind an apparently quite comfy dirt bed. At first, the dust only kicked up when the dogs were on that patch. At this point, though, the slightest breeze will bring up a dusty cloud worthy of The Grapes of Wrath. I suppose this wouldn't be much of a problem except for the garage...or rather everything IN the garage. Which is in the path of the dust cloud. So my nice blue suitcase is no longer blue, etc.

I would wish for rain, but then I would have a plethora of muddy paw prints (and dogs to go with them). I'll just hope I can vacuum my suitcase.