"The dust was thickening to an impenetrable fog."
In this example of visual imagery, Sinclair Ross illustrates how the soil that the wind kicks up obscures Ellen's vision to the point where the sun is blocked out and she can't see beyond their property. This contributes to Ellen's claustrophobia and the sense that she is caged in the house.
"The table had been set less than ten minutes, and already a film was gathering on the dishes."
In this visual image, Ross illustrates how airborne dust encroaches the physical space of the house gradually but quickly. The image has a surreal quality, lending the interior space of the house an abandoned or crypt-like quality.
"There were two winds: the wind in flight, and the wind that pursued. The one sought refuge in the eaves, whimpering, in fear; the other assailed it there."
In this example of auditory imagery, Ross represents the particular quality of the constant winds passing around the house by personifying the winds as being engaged in a chase. The first wind is more subdued in the frightened, whimpering sound it produces; the second is loud and violent, able to chase the whimpering wind out of the eaves. After a period of silence, the cycle repeats.
