Sh!t's blowin' up

So, apparently there's active volcanoes in the AK.   About a week ago, Mt. Redoubt started going off. 

This was after about two months of.."It's gonna blow.....no, it seems ok.....no, it's gonna blow anytime now.....nope, looks ok......oh, any second now......"   Finally, after a few weeks of total radio silence....ka-boom. You can chek out the Alaska Volcano Observatory's extremely ugly & poorly designed website to follow the latest 'splosions & what-not.   These cats make FEMA look competent. (yeah, I know....I just took a shot at underfunded scientists.....who, by the quality of their work, are still stealing money... )

The site does have some good photos, though, including this one......FROM OUTER SPACE!!!

directly beneath the photo was the notation: 

Ash cloud seen in the geostationary MTSAT data, courtesy of the National Weather Service, processed by the Cooperative Institute for Meteorological Satellite Studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison . We are at the extreme edge of the view for the satellite which is over the equator in Asia.

Picture Date: March 26, 2009 17:30:00

Image Creator: Dehn, Jonathan

Image courtesy of the National Weather Service.

Please cite the photographer when using this image.

So who do I cite here?  Hal-9000 satellite actually took the photo, no?  Does Jonathan Dehn have any credentials?  A quandary.....

Anyway, here's a dope nightime shot, featuring lightning in the plume...

There's been a couple of eruptions per day, each one followed by the best "sky is-falling" hysteria the local media can muster.  "AshHole Watch 2009" is how the Daily Show might bill it.

 

What's it meant for DK?  Well, I check "Deal With Fall-Out From Volcano Eruption" off my list. 

The stuff does get everywhere, and it's not recommended for machines, animals, etc.  So a combination of preventative (tarping equipment, putting wee little dust masks on all the chickens)  & post eruption (broom, shovel) measures are taken.  It's also wreaked havoc with the sattelite wi-fi connection, as this is the first I've been able to get on-line in several days.

this was post-shoveling this morning after snow & ash fall yesterday   (the gray is ash)

the ash floating in the air has produced some interesting skies, however - starlight at night is quite twinkly, and this sweet double sun-dog appeared the other day:

followed in the evening by a nice sun-set dog  :

All in all, the volcano's been a low-impact diversion thus far. 

The real story of my past week has involved multiple runs to town for supplies.  "The Big Melt" is beginning, and were racing the river to get everything in.  Last night was the 4th straight day of roundtrips, preceded by 3 days of running.   Had trouble lifting my arms to wash my face.  Going out again tomorrow.  Details (just how much fuel could 3 people possibly need?  when does one determine if their snowmobile is on fire?) and photos to come....