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| Our backyard passionfruit vine covered in volcanic ash |
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| Keeping our lungs safe from chemical irritation....Joshua, just don't breathe too deeply since you won't keep your mask on! |
It's been a month now since Mount Kelud "coughed," but although I am behind in my blogging, I think it's still worth a show-and-tell. You may remember that 3 1/2 years ago another of our local volcanos, Mt Merapi, erupted for days on end. It was only 14 miles away from us, but the ash clouds were blowing in the opposite direction from our town and we were barely affected.
In this case, Mt. Kelud is about 150 miles away and only erupted for one part of one day. The winds were blowing our direction this time and our whole region basically shut down for 2 days! The strength of the created natural world never ceases to amaze me. Despite all of our technology and intellect, a natural disaster can take lives and cause everything to come to a stand still in no time at all. Fortunately, this volcanic eruption resulted in relatively little loss of life.... less than 20 fatalities, from such things as an ash-laden roof collapsing or chronic lung disorders being exacerbated. (By contrast, the eruption in 2009 killed about 200 people who suffered severe burns). 200,000 people were temporarily evacuated from the slopes of the volcano, but they were soon able to return to their homes.
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| Mount Kelud coughs |
We went to bed as normal and got up as normal too, eating breakfast and getting dressed. I woke up and thought I smelled cigarette smoke, but people often smoke on the corner outside our house so I dismissed it. We only knew something had happened when we got a text message that school was cancelled due to ash fall! We looked out the window and sure enough, it was a white world!
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| No swinging today ....or for the next several days as we waited for a cleansing rainfall.... |
The ash is not really dangerous for a normal healthy person....it's just uncomfortable. It contains sulfuric chemicals so it will stings the eyes, nose, throat, lungs. It will activate allergies and asthma for people are susceptible. You really ought to stay in the house. That is what we did for the most part. We wore a mask if we had to go out....fortunately I had a supply left over from the last eruption! Basically we just didn't go out at all for 48 hours. Although it was the peak of the rainy season, this ash fall occurred just as we had about 3 days with no rain! I really didn't want the boys outside until some of the ash was cleared away.
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| Here we have Ash Days instead of Snow Days.... but the color is the same. The smell is different....Ash Days smell kind of like cigarette smoke or spent matches. |
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| Ben's last calculus class in our living room.... |
We still had our guest, Ben, on the day of the ash fall. School was cancelled. The students thought what he had to share was more important than a day off, so we had an impromptu calculus class at our house.
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| Bed mattress being used as a trampoline and couch totally dismantled....this is what happens when little boys don't get to play outside for 48 hours! |
The boys and I stayed inside for 2 days and 2 nights solid. Fortunately we had enough food and water that we could do it without difficulty. What was difficult was keeping the boys happy and active while cooped up! I felt a bit sorry for myself, but then I remembered mom friends living in rainy, cold Oregon where long stretches indoors are the routine!
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| For a break from the house, we had dinner at this local restaurant that has a sealed-off, air-conditioned room. |
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| From dust we came and to dust we shall return.... |
It was a gritty, dirty world inside and out. Our homes in the tropics have windows that do not close completely. Although the air quality was better inside, there was still a LOT of ash inside the house. The pile of dust in this picture was from our kitchen. I swept a similar pile from the same area at least 4 times in the same day!
The mountain coughed on Thursday night. I think the first big rain came on Monday, with additional cleansing rains over the next several days. That's life in the tropics, where we live in the Ring of Fire!
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