Dissappointment and lack of sleep.

I find myself running into that all too familiar situation that most Alaskans find themselves entwined in during these months. I can't sleep! It is 11:00PM right now and I just came in from pottying the dogs. Maryann is passed out, and although I am feeling a bit sleepy....it just got dark! The past week I have been finding the hours getting later to sleep and the hour getting earlier to wake. And if this summer is like last summer....it's only going to get worse! But somehow miraculously enough, we find ourselves energized by the daylight and able to cope with less sleep. And with the weather finally warming up there soon enough will be nights that will not only be sleepless, but filled with outdoor activity during the 'daylight endurance training' portion of the year!! Today the weather peaked at around 60 degrees or better out in Sterling and Soldotna. Although I was not home all day I think it was a little cooler in Nikiski since we do get the ocean breeze from the bay.

Here comes the disappointment which has nothing to do with sleepless nights. Now I have mentioned once or twice there are two topics of which I try to avoid within the writing of posts. One of these topics is politics. And I have to say I have done pretty good! But tonight I am bending the rule askew.




Caveat:
If there is the remote chance that you are easily offended by personal and/or political comments and views, it is probably best to sign off about here. However, I do respect the opinions of others and political affiliation of which they feel they are comfortable believing in. This is only my opinion. That said......



It is no secret or hidden fact to most that typically speaking when a Democratic President is elected that the portion of U.S. citizens that believe in and follow the 2nd Amendment of the Constitution Of The United States, which states the right to keep and bear arms, begin to feel threatened that this right will be taken away. And once again Mr. Obama, our savior, the one who will save the world from economic oppression and bring back the values and security that the U.S. needs to get back on her feet, is poised and ready to tamper with our rights. As if there is already not enough on dudes plate. Lets address the pig! Only this time around he is going about it in an underhanded and dangerous manner. The guns themselves will not be the first to go, but rather the primers needed to make ammunition. The mass panic that has followed the suggestion of this next move has prompted many gun owners to bear down purchasing guns at record numbers, and stockpiling ammunition and reloading supplies. This threat has created two things. An economic stimulus of sorts, as the amount of money that Alaskans alone have invested into guns and ammo since September 2008 when we realized the danger that we were about to be thrown into was real. They are continuing to do so at somewhat of an alarming rate. Again, I am only speaking of Alaskans.....we love our guns and the right to keep and carry them, although it is a nationwide panic. It "is" worse than than the pig flu. It as well brought people like myself into the realization that what I took for granted for so many years...my right to keep and bears arms...am now forced to take a stance and stand up for what I believe in. I am pissed! It was in 2007 that the 2nd Amendment was challenged in the Supreme Court. The text in this Amendment says: "A well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed." These words were challenged as to whether this is meant for 'the individual peoples rights' or the 'states' right. The courts struck down the ban on handguns in the District Of Columbia and found it to be unconstitutional. This opened the door for gun advocates such as the NRA to begin their efforts to overturn a similar ban for example, in San Fransisco. In April of 2008 they succeeded in overturning the proposition that S.F. voters had passed in November of 2005. The shame in it all is what I see to be where does it end? Apparently not there. If we cant take away the guns we will take away the ammunition. Chicken shit! The argument that a civilized world does not need citizens arming themselves, or that the District Of Columbia's crime rate was reduced during the ban, or the 'carry concealed law' such as what we have the right in Alaska to observe, creates an environment of bloodshed and crime.....bullshit! The District Of Columbia is a jungle. You disarm the good citizens and it is the criminals who will have guns in the jungles of America. I have lived in this state now for about 2 years and have heard very little on the news of shootings and/or murder due to the right to carry a weapon. There is no mass murder rate. I think honestly more people in Alaska are killed as a cumulative by moose on our roads, drunk drivers, and grizzly bear attacks while hiking or jogging than there has ever been by guns. All that logic does not hold water with me. And what of murder. Is it a gun that kills each and every time? I still say it isn't guns that kill people, it is people who kill people. What about alcohol? I believe that there is a good probability that alcohol kills and maims more people in a year in this country than guns?? And maybe I am wrong about that. It is fact though that it does indeed kill. Why don't we take away alcohol? Why stop there. Lets make cigarettes illegal. Cigarettes and second hand smoke kills, right?! I suppose I can go on but what it comes down to is that we have to stand up for our rights. If an attempt to reinterpret the Constitution succeeds with one thing, what will it be next. It needs to stop. This is a blatant attempt by Nancy Pelosi and the Democratic party led by Mr. Obama to disarm Americans, virtually leaving us defenseless. And what of the subsistence population in Alaska? How are these natives and villagers to hunt for their food with the lack of weapons to do so. How are we to protect ourselves in the bush...in our own rural communities from charging moose or irritated grizzly bears? And what of the sport. What of those who take pride in competing and honing their targeting skills in honorable contests? What is freedom when there is no way left to protect ourselves? What is freedom when in fact we are no longer free to enjoy our freedoms? Those who are against firearms will continue to be, I am not going to try and change minds. But there are those of us who believe in our right and actively observe that right, and do participate in the sport, recreation, or ability to protect ourselves. It is legal in the State Of Alaska to carry a concealed weapon on ones person at any time excluding a few common sense situations such as in schools or courts for example. I asked a State Trooper Sergeant one day how Troopers handle this 'carry concealed law'. He simply stated that if they pull over someone who has a concealed weapon that the person is obligated to report it immediately to the Trooper making contact. Generally the Trooper will say "fair enough....you don't pull out yours and I won't pull out mine". Maryann asked a school mom when we moved here what kind of implementations were in place for Johns school in case of a school shooting or hostage situation. The woman looked at Maryann and said very frankly, "sweetie, don't worry, if anything was to ever happen, half the town would be here in less than 5 minutes and would have it resolved well before the Troopers could arrive to respond". Many areas of Alaska are rural and the only protection we have is the protection we carry. We all cannot rely on the police state in our country to protect us at all times from violence. It is also anyones right to have an interest in firearms strictly for the sport be it game hunting or target competition. Or for that matter like coins and stamps or any other hobby....just to collect. Educate yourselves. It is our responsibility to vote for leadership, and it also our responsibility to make sure our leaders are not leading us down a path of the extermination of our rights. One website that was recently brought to my attention was the Second Amendment Foundation. Google it. I never realized that the NRA actually sits in the U.N. Educate yourselves and decide whether you will take an interest and a civilized action to protect the rights that we have been given. Men and women have fought and died for the right for me to say this. Could you imagine tuning into this blog next week to find it is no longer in existence because of what I have written and that I have been taken away never to be seen again by friends and family? And you don't think this can happen?? I never thought they could take away my firearms. Chew on that thought! That is all for now. I am tired. Goodnight!

Seasoned.

So it was brought to my attention the disappointment of some as to no blog post in recent days. Weeks. And to this I replied:
I have spent the last 8 months in a bitterly cold and iced over wasteland, and have begun to lose the desire to write....somewhat like Jack Nicholson, in 'The Shining'. This is where I am at, in the head.....

We are seasoned. We have been through our second winter. Our bodies and metabolisms have acclimated to minus temperatures for durations, lack of light and life in the winter North land. My aunt was cracking up when she asked me the other day if it has gotten warmer out. I replied that yes, it was 42 degrees out that day and it felt wonderful! Ya just don't realize how a meager 42 degrees with sunshine can be a God send and feel so wonderful to the human body and spirit!! But it is true. It does. Thank God and thanks to many prayers, my aunt survived and is recovering from a heart attack she had on Easter. We love you aunt Mary, and know you will be fine and back on your feet before you know it!

Today was a little overcast. Ok, alot of overcast with some afternoon drizzle. But tonight the sun is out and although it is butt chilly from the wind, it is marvelous outside. The days are getting long. It doesn't get dark until 10:30 PM with the sun coming up at....help me out here Erin, you are up before me...5:30AM?? And as I have stated before, it is really easy to lose touch with the time and realize that "oh crud", it is already 9:30PM!! But it is a great thing and we are so happy that the snow is melting fast, and the ice has finally made way to actual ground. And I kid you not this is the first we have seen of "ground" since October.Actual real live "ground"!!!
This is the ash, after the break-up that we will be dealing with for a while, all the way down to mowing the lawn when the lawn finally gets green.
The lake is slowly starting to reappear. Still iced but hopefully it will turn soon.

The huge rock recently re-emerged! We have missed our rock!!

The volcano is still actively erupting. Although most of the activity has been confined to low level plumes of steam and volcanic spooge that rise a few thousand feet in the air. No major explosions, although the forming lava dome is pretty impressive. But they say it is not over..... We wait.

Funny story. I went to lunch with Maryann today in Soldotna. After lunch I headed back towards Kenai to finish my work. We ran out of heating oil this morning so I loaded the auxiliary 55 gallon tank into the truck to take it in to get it filled. Mind you, we are avoiding tapping into the full 500 gallon main tank until next winter. The price dropped per gallon again last night so I figured "fill it to the rim!" I pull into Alaska Oil Sales and as I am coming into the parking lot I noticed the driver in the tanker building was kind of looking like he was seeing a ghost drive in or something. I figured he was just another winter stricken Alaskan with that crazy eye, anxiously awaiting spring. As I pull up to the fuel pumping dock, I back the truck to it for easy filling access to our tank in the back of my truck, jump out as Dennis says down to me "how is your day going?". I was a little disrupted to that question as I noticed that my left tire is just smoking and I am smelling total 'burning brake'. In the midst of the menagerie of sight and sound, I muddled back to him "well, it was going good but I don't think it is anymore...." By this point he is smelling 'burning brake' and comments on it, but notices that I am staring in dismay at my tire and not responding. This draws his attention to that side of the truck to notice that I have some serious smoke dispelling at a high rate. I looked at him as his mouth flops open and he says in a clam yet direct voice...."maybe you should move your truck out int the parking lot...like quick..." This is when it dawned to me that my brakes may well be on fire. I am parked within several feet of 6 fuel pumping ports which are connected to God knows how many thousands of gallons of fuel behind the dock building.....you do the math!?! Needless to say it was a hair raising moment and we both got a chuckle after the fact, over both of our desires for the utter need of less excitement in this day, as the brakes cooled and the smoke subsided. And eventually I got the drum filled and went merrily on my way. Now, why you ask were my brakes burning? I usually don't need my emergency brakes in the winter, not only for the fact that emergency brakes do no good to keep a truck in place on sheet ice, but also the fact that I drop the plow blade when I park and that is usually sufficient for a holding grip! Guess who put on his emergency brake today for the first time in 7 months?! Guess who forgot to disengage that brake after lunch!? Whoops, man! That is what happens when one is 'fat and happy'!

John graduates in less than a month. Then the real world. Will he be ready? I really hope so because he is jumping head on into it! He informed us this past weekend that he will be moving out after graduation. Actually, he informed us that he was moving out back on Saturday until we informed him that he was not going anywhere until after graduation where upon he re advised us of his plans to leave after graduation. We are happy for him. Just pray that he is ready for it because although he is welcome back at any time....after he leaves, his room is being renovated and I will be turning it into the parlor/clubhouse/music room/office. And, did I mention that it would be happening in short order?? Like I said and I speak for both of us, we really hope he is ready, It was thoroughly his decision and we will honor it. The more we realize that soon we will have the house to ourselves.....hmm.....life after the kids! Woo-hoo!!!! Nudism and freedom, here we come, man! (huge grin)

The end of this month our beloved 'Sweet Pea' will be hanging it up. She will officially be gone as Maryann is tossed into the official position of General Manager/Operations Manager/Booking Agent/Bookkeeper. All this and in less than one year! I am hoping on that note for an early retirement. Workout in the new clubhouse, relax in the new parlor, and enjoy smooth tunes.....in the new music room! Ah, a dream..... So for now, we hold tight to the arrival of summer, kiss break-up and winter goodbye, and hope for some excitement in this coming year. Our love to all!

Senior Prom

The one thing every parent dreads....Senior Prom! It is simply another reminder that your child is no longer a child and soon will be flying free in the big real-time world. And so tonight, John and his beautiful date are out having the time of their lives. And for note: he wanted to take the Chevelle! HA!! After his irreputable image as a traffic scofflaw, coupled with the ice and snow still prevalent on some of the roads....what do you think the answer was? But, you gotta give the guy credit for mustering up the courage to ask such an impudent question. Jeniffer's dad has a Chevelle also, so she was in on the 'question'!! Apparently she has a thing for Chevelle's much like her Prom date. That said we are happy for them both because they are very cute together and do get along so well when they are together.



We were given a week long reprieve from Mt Redoubt with the activity limited to gas, steam and miner ash emission. No major eruptions have occurred all week....until this morning at 6:00AM. So far today that has been the only event. We are still fortunate to be out of the cross hairs from anymore ash. This is good news. Homer on the other hand was not so fortunate. These are pics that were posted on the AVO website from this mornings eruption and it's effects in Homer.

This picture was taken at 8:00AM and the sun is up with daylight present at this time.

Again, this is around 8:00AM.

The weather....it is supposed to be Spring, man. We were getting into the mid 30's there and then we got more snow (woo-hoo!). the nights are supposed to be getting down in the teens and single digits the next few days and there is rumor of possible snow later in the week (woo-hoo, but not without a caveat: I love the snow, and I love the money it brings... but.) If we don't get some meltage happening here soon, my parents will be visiting in May with snow suits! And they don't have any!! How funny is that!!!

And after 'pressure' comes relief???

Sunday morning, and so far no events with Redoubt since last night at around 7:23PM. Today follows an eventful day, Saturday, of 5 significant eruptions. And only hours after the Saturday morning post, our luck would waver as one of those eruptions did in fact emit a trace of ash fall on Nikiski. As well areas of South Anchorage, Whittier and as far as Valdez saw ash fall from this event. What does ash fall mean to us, you ask? It means a slight deviation from daily life. Fortunately it was literally a trace. But things like trying to avoid letting the dogs roll in it, ash being tracked in on their paws....our shoes. The key is to keep it all to a minimum as it is harsh for electronics like tv's, computer, and is a bit nasty on the lungs and eyes. Again, with such little ash we are lucky I suppose. We thought it was good news that a dusting of snowfall overnight would be a good thing. NOT! With the morning temp now above 32 degrees, the trace of snow is melting making the trace of ash a trace of a mess. We will attempt to hose down the main decks this morning to wash it off on the main entrances. But with inches thick of ice on walkways, portions of the decks and feet of snow in everywhere else there is only so much we can do.
View from Soldotna minutes after the initial explosion.


This is the 'mushroom cloud' that John saw.

Yesterday at 3:29PM the eruption occurred and sent a cloud to 25,000 feet. This is relatively a low altitude compared to most of the other eruptions that have occurred. Maryann and I had just come back from running the dogs out at the high school. Shortly after we arrived home, John called, from his way home from Sterling, and said that the cloud was huge and looked like a mushroom cloud. Probably 10 minutes after his call Maryann said in that voice that always makes me think "oh crap", "hey honey, it's getting dark...oh, sh*^....". Excitement was elevated as this was quick moving and significantly lower than the last cloud taken from the house here.


Maryann is like....a superwoman of sort, as she managed to feed all 3 dogs, potty them and get these picks as it got darker by the minute. Heres to all the 'Mom's' and wives of the world!


This is the Southern most edge of the cloud as we were litterally on the edge of the ash cloud which eventually continued to drift NorthEast of us.



As usual, pictures do no justice, but you can see here a sample of how the snow looked like it was being peppered.


Left click this one and you can see the ash a little better. As I said, it was only a trace. It was very hard and particulate, and with the melting snow covering it this morning it became much like wet cement yet still very particulate in form.

As I walked out in the main room she is pasted face to the window looking up and a huge cloud was rapidly moving over us. Now at this point, she cleverly thinks to feed the dogs so she can let them out real quick to go potty, and I go out to back my truck into the garage, re-cover the garage heater vent, and try to re-secure the tarp over her truck, all of the time watching this thing get darker, and lower. We finished everything (most of what we do in response to an eruption was still in place from 3 days ago) and just stood outside looking up in awe, and figuring that this time we were going to get ash. You could hear thunder, not from anything but the ash cloud, echoing through the sky. Minutes later Maryann went inside and I went out on the back deck. I was standing there and felt something hit my head, like hail. At the same time I heard what sounded like sand starting to pelt the tarp over the hot tub. This is about the time I went in and seconds later it looked like gray snow across the lake, and all of the trees were beginning to turn gray. It looks like the snow was being peppered, and these little tiny gray hail looking balls were covering the deck. In all, it lasted about 15 minutes as the cloud began to blow further to the North. When you think about it, it is actually an intense feeling. To be standing out having rock, that was pulverized from an earthly explosion, sent flying 25,000 feet in the air, and then falling 60 miles away....on my head, no less. Wow. For a moment, I realized once again how very small we are. And so we deal with it considering ourselves lucky, all wondering if this is it, or if there is more to come. In the 1989/1990 eruptions, there was significantly more ash fall, and about 20 eruptions strung out over a 6 month period. This time around, the ash has been very little in quantity, yet we have had close to 20 eruptions in the past 6 days. Interestingly we haven't had any lava come out of the volcano to this point. Apparently it is still possible for 'red hot magma'. The explosions have blown away the dome that was building. It has been said that it is "like the volcano clearing it's throat" of old rock from pressure build up. Once the pressure is gone and the vent is clear, it is easier to allow lava to flow to the surface.

One thing I can assure you. We moved here knowing that we were in 'the ring of fire'. And not a day goes by without thanking God for being able to live here. And even now, after the past week and realizing that it may possibly get worse, we still thank God for being able to be here. The benefits of our move to Alaska have far outweighed by any stretch of the imagination any disadvantages. If you offered to by our cabin in Dorrington back for us, paid for, and assured us that our business there and clientele would begin again where it left off.....we still would never leave here. No, Alaska is beautiful with so many advantages to us, and yet many still to be had. Volcano's are a part of life here, much as violent crime and unrest are to large cities, forest fires to Arnold and Dorrington, tornado's to the Midwest. In fact, anywhere USA has it's situations that we find ourselves out of control of. Happy Sunday to all, and lets hope Redoubt is starting to wind down. At least that is our hope!

Lets title this....'Pressure'....

Yes, pressure. A very fitting word these days. What happens when pressure is applied! We have been very fortunate since our last post. We have been out of the cross hairs for ash fall the past few days. There have been several eruptions a day since the last post, with 4 yesterday and already 2 this morning. Current NOAA ash trajectories are heading North right now. Here are a few pics of what ...pressure... can do!

Thursday evening of several eruptions this day.

Ash cloud seen near Homer.

Much like a wildfire, a volcano apparently creates it's own weather as seen here with lightning generated from the eruption that occured at 11:40PM last night.

More lightning....just intense! Mother nature at her absolute finest!!

Last nights 7:57PM eruption as seen from near Homer. Notice how light out it has become....woo-hoo!

It's show time!

AVO photos from this morning.

I looked at the AVO website at 9:10AM this morning. We were cool. I go to work at 9:37AM and think to myself as I am driving down the highway looking across the bay seeing nothing due to overcast, "I probably should have grabbed my pantyhose and extra air filter....no biggie, we're cool". At 9:53AM the first call comes in, once again from the outside, that a major eruption has occurred. I am trying to call Maryann to have her check the AVO site but my phone won't stop ringing long enough for me to call out. 9:59AM, Maryann verifies that we are on, and I start to return home to prepare the volcano preparatory chores.....again. We are getting good at this. Only today, the wind has shifted and we are on the borderline of the projected ash fallout. This mornings eruption was reported as 'major' and occurred at 9:24AM Do you see that time table of events? Incredible how I missed it by minutes. We are currently standing by and watching the massive ash cloud 1000's of feet in the atmosphere blowing over our house. Here are some pics. It is an amazing thing....I suppose....until it gets 100's of feet off the ground....and then I suppose it won't be so amazing anymore! Anyways, much like the little news cuties who do their hair and make-up looking their best, only to be blown sideways in the eye of a hurricane to bring you the front lines story, as well I brave the threat of ash and the end of the world, to bring you a first hand account....pantyhose in hand... live from the compound....(wink)....

"It's your butt calling".

This was too comical to pass up. Maryann's on site manager at the lodge, Mike, was sitting in his cabin on the lodge grounds this morning taking in the ....well, morning! To his complete and sudden astonishment, two State Troopers come flying in, in their cruisers. Mike does what most confused folk would do....he walks out of the cabin to see what it was they were doing. They proceed to tell him they are responding to the 911 call they received. ? It took a minute for the three to put '1 & 2' together when they came to the realization that, quite like that Blackberry commercial where the girl walks into the room where the guy is sitting on the couch and her phone is ringing... Mikes butt apparently called 911! How funny is that!? According to the Troopers who thank goodness had a sense of humor, this type of thing happens all the time. Moral of the story: Know what your butt is up to at all times.

In other news, after a brief eruption in the early hours of this morning, Redoubt has been downgraded to an 'Orange' status once more. Whew! There are some pretty amazing pics on the AVO website of the aftermath of the past few days of activity. But all is cool once more, and we hope it stays this way.

Then there is the newest member of our family, of which I feel like a moron for not announcing sooner. No, it's not a baby so cool your heels. We adopted a new doggie! Seska is our 3 year old female Alaskan Malamute. We rescued her from the Anchorage Malamute organization about two weeks ago. She is adapting well to the family, and the other two are finding her to be a good companion for them. In fact, aside from her occasional bouts of complete stubbornness for which Malamutes are notorious for...Kenai and Cherokee are of no exception...she is getting quite into the grove with 'the pack'. These pics are of the first night so if it seems like everyone is a little befuddled....they are! Oh, and that is not dandruff on the dogs. It was the snow refracting the flash from the camera.
Seska is trying to figure out why Cherokee is on a pillow. She was a complete outdoor dog.
You can tell who the ham is. As Cherokee does his usual "look at me" pose for the camera, Kenai stands watch over Seska to make sure she isn't going to get out of line here.
Cranial love is the best kind of love for our dogs. Seska took an immediate liking to John and is geting into this 'cranial love' thing!

I also included some pics from our trip back from Anchorage the day we got her. They are of the Turnagain Arm, and the ice pack that was present.