Temporary Residence in Alaska

By now I should be home in Milwaukee after a winter photography trip to Wrangell-St. Elias National Park & Preserve in Alaska. However, Mother Nature has other plans for me and that might include temporary residency in Alaska. Not that I would mind that, as I love the landscape and the people of this state, but I'm a guest at a friend's home and waiting for Mt. Redoubt to settle down enough so that the planes can fly again.

Yes, Mt. Redoubt's an active volcano that's been threatening to erupt for weeks and on the 23rd of March, she did. It didn't bother me then, I was in our cabin in WSENP&P photographing the beautiful scenery and the ash was making it's way north of the eruption. But now that I'm 2 flights back into Anchorage, the ash fell our way last night and the airport's "closed indefinitely."

The ash started falling about 6:00 p.m. last night and the TV reporters had dust masks and goggles on when doing their "live" reports outside. It's not as bad as the eruptions of 1989-90 but let's just say that there's a whole bunch of people that are stuck here as well as points south, trying to get here. Kind of like a big, ole' Midwestern snowstorm that cripples air traffic for a few days. You in the midwest know exactly what I'm talking about.

The big difference between snow and ash is that ash can destroy anything mechanical or electronic. There's images of the check-in kiosks at the airport covered with big, black, plastic bags to keep ash out of the electronics. Sled dogs can't be kept outside and all those active Alaskans, who have spent their winter cooped up, can't get out to play right now.

So it's time for me to work on an article about what's it like to experience beautiful, Alaskan winter scenery and then a volcanic eruption. The volcanologists say this eruption/ash fall phase could go on for weeks or months. Let's just hope my article is a "short story" and not a non-fiction book!