Friday, March 27, 2009

Redoubt Volcano...Again!

She's been holding it in for so long that now she just can't seem to stop letting it all out. Poor Redoubt. She erupted a couple of times last night, and again around 9:30 this morning. The latest ash plume went around 50,000 feet above sea level. Winds have shifted, and it's heading our direction. Luckily for Anchorage residents, they are calling for "trace amounts of ash fall in the area". Not really sure how much trace amounts are. I looked at my measuring utensils in the kitchen and couldn't find "trace" on any of them. Must be somewhere in the category of "smidgen" or "tad". Snow has been falling all morning, so it would be mixed in with that and not very noticeable. We are under an advisory until 3 pm.
(Picture Date: March 26, 2009 21:41:00 UTC Image Creator: Dehn, Jonathan)
(Homer Lodge, Picture Date: March 26, 2009, Image Creator: Isaak, James)

The weather has been a little wacky lately, not even counting the volcanic activity. It's in the low 30's right now, and will stay in that area for most of the week. Big flakes of snow are falling, and sticking for the most part. Ice is melting off of the roofs and dripping down onto the snowbanks below. Essentially, Anchorage in a big slushy cup at the moment. Spring Breakup is not the most attractive season for Alaska. Kind of like seeing your favorite movie star without her makeup on. You know she is beautiful, but you aren't seeing much of that right now.
In case you were following out sad cat saga, there is much celebration in our household now. Grandma and Grandpa have saved the kitties. They have volunteered to babysit our babies for the 3 years that we are in Europe. Whoopeee! The kids have stopped moping around the house. Jess has stopped accusing us of "putting a price tag on family". Now we can relax in the knowledge that our cats will be well taken care of. I won't even complain when they weight about 30 pounds each when we return to the states (because Grandma loves to give the kitties treats). I will just remind her that Tink loves to sleep on your head, and that could be very dangerous for everyone involved if she were the size of a bean bag chair. Ashley will have a reading buddy to lounge with, and Tink will have a glass door with a whole new crop of squirrels to check out. Her heart will be broken many times, I'm sure, but she is tough and can handle it. We have given up on the cats Dutch lessons, and are now working on teaching them to speak southern. Meeeeeooooow, ya'll. Grandparents rock!

2 comments:

Gretchen said...

good news about the cats!! I was really worried about them!!

BelgiumBarb said...

We were worried about them, too. Now we can relax. Things were not happy in our household until the cats were taken care of . :0)