It's been one year now. Well, ok, a year and a week since I first moved to Alaska. Karey and Peter, interestingly enough, are in South Carolina right now - the same place they were a year ago. They come back on Monday, assuming a particular volcano doesn't cause problems for their flight. They celebrate their one year anniversary at the end of the month.
So that particular volcano is known as Augustine and sits in the mouth of the Cook Inlet, just a few hundred miles from Anchorage. It's been making noise and steaming for a while, but it decided to make its presence known this past week. It has started spewing ash in a series of small eruptions - five of which were yesterday. In a precautionary measure, Alaska Airlines cancelled 28 flights yesterday. I haven't heard of other airlines cancelling their flights. While I'm thrilled at the idea of a major eruption from a volcano near where I live, I really miss my family.
Of course, when I say that I'm thrilled about the idea of the volcano erupting, I'd prefer all of the nasty consequences not come to Anchorage. I'm referring to volcanic ash, which I understand is just a major pain. Apparently anything that needs air to do its thing (lungs, car engines, jet engines, heating systems) gets absolutely destroyed by volcanic ash. Not a nice thing.
Regarding the snowfall, there just hasn't been a whole lot of it. I mean, this is Alaska, right? I don't think it's snowed since Christmas. I keep waiting for that next major snowfall so we can get out and enjoy what Alaska has to offer in the wintertime. Well, what it has to offer outside of flat out cold temperatures.
