Now if that does'nt...

....doesn't make you poop yourself.... This is what we saw on the news stand walking into Carrs (Safeway in the lower 48) this afternoon. Now, if we didn't already know that : #1 It was snowing all day so there is no way that this could be a photo from today. #2 We already drove form Nikiski to Kenai and saw no evidence suggesting otherwise. #3 Nobody around us seemed to phased.... we surely would have lost it! And rightfully so. This is a photo that is fairly popular from the 1989 eruption. No, as of post tonight there has been no eruption. People here are going about there lives like nothing is out of the ordinary, as are we. Truthfully, I am really holding on to that whole 'fart' theory, but am prepared for the worst. It just seems like it will be a huge pain in the butt for potentially a long while if it does go. Who knows, man!

In other news, John has landed himself one great job! As you know, he is now getting out of school at 11:30 daily, since he has more than enough credits to graduate. The deal here was: you get out early, you need to find a job. We could not see the sense in him just hanging around, doing nothing. Mind you, that is not John anyways, but it was the agreement. So he is now working part time at an electric supply house outside of Kenai. Woo-hoo man! The really good thing is that after school in June he will probably be going full time, which will provide him with the old fashioned benefits...paid vacation, medical, ect. We are so happy for him. And talk about God opening a door for each that he closes, John found out within a couple days of getting this job that the Italian joint was going to lay him off due to lack of business and family matters. you know how those 'family' matters are with the Italians... =) So, yeah, it all came together like a good book!

I had the strange honor of teaching a couple pottery classes at Nikiski High a couple weeks ago. Strange, only because I of all people would have been the last to ever think that 'I' could teach anything. I am the one who used to be sick the days that I had to stand up in front of the class to do reports. But, I was asked by the art teacher, and spent a couple days helping the middle school class throwing clay on the potters wheel. They were stoked! It was really fun, and I only wish I had more time to have been able to attend more with them. But it was fun, and worked out well. I have been told that I can do an appearance anytime I have the time, so maybe next week I will pop in and see how they are all doing with what they have learned. We have had snow litely most of the day, and it has picked up this afternoon and evening, so it looks as if I will be going out around midnight to begin my plowing run. I have installed the 'Plow-Cam' on the plow, so hopefully the next post I will have some awesome 'real time' pics of plowing snow. Cool, huh!? Always trying to make it all better for everyone to see!! This is what I do. Take care, and stay safe out there. Our love to all!

Still going....

Good news is....we're still here! Woo-hoo!! After a statewide DSL outage with our local telecommunications company, we are finally starting to get our computer and internet access back. We are still limping with John and Maryann's PC and the router. When I called tech support tonight at ACS to get some help getting it all back online, I was told on a recording that the wait time would be approximately 154 minutes. Riiight. And ACS's moto...."We're there!" Truth is, seldom are they or have they ever in our time in Alaska, 'been there'. I do have an updated link for the Alaska Volcano Observatory. It is Alaska Volcano Observatory - Redoubt - Activity Page This is similar to one of the prior links, only it will take you directly to the activity page. On the right side of that page if you scroll down about half way, you can click on one of two web cams to see firsthand what we are seeing. The first is from the hut just 7 miles from Redoubt's summit, and the second is from one of the Unocal oil platforms out in the bay. Also towards the top of the page, if you click on that middle photo, you will have a bevy of current close-ups from fly overs at the volcano's summit. Meantime, we are as prepared as we can be. It is really hard to gauge how bad an eruption may be. Could be...a fart (good analogy, Barb) or it could be apocalyptic. No matter what happens though, it is going to potentially somehow inconvenience alot of people. Truthfully, we are not too worried. Again, when you pick up your family and their lives and move stone cold 3000 miles away, across another country and an ocean, to start life over at $0.00 income, with no assurances that anything is going to work out right....it is really hard to be too afraid of much of anything. Especially when the good lord brought you through with remarkable and unbelievable results!

We finally got a good blast of snow last week. Brought in 4 days of consecutive plowing for me, much needed money, and a nice blanket to add to what we lost with that last warm-up. Night time temps are getting back down to -25 below 0, and daytime temps just creeping over -0. Out of a combined concern for the current weight with the snow on the roof, and the possibility of additional weight from any ash fall, John went up Sunday and started shoveling off the roof. Oh, it was about -10 when these pics were shot! It is amazing how very little amount of ash, can crate enormous weight, capable of collapsing roofs. Again, just trying to stay a half step ahead of potential issues. All in all we are just continuing on with life, as is much of the peninsula these days. Many veterans of the 1989 eruption are seasoned and very much unaffected by the most recent developments. I would like to say that we are following their lead, but that would be a misrepresentation of the real deal. But we are, however, just taking one day at a time, and figuring..."thy will be done". As Grandma Travale used to say..."whata me gonna do?" Amen to that, Grandma! Stay tuned. Love to all!!