Click to save the rainforest (#52 - Down but not out)

Good Morning, afternoon, and evening all. I'm all clicked.

My brother lives under a volcano on the Big Island and I worry about him sometimes, too. Fortunately, he has a good-sized hill behind him which redirects the lava flow-- at least it has so far.

Living near volcanoes reminds me of a book I heard about:
"Braving Home: Dispatches from the Underwater Town, the Lava-Side Inn, and Other Extreme Locales", by Jake Halpern
I haven't read it yet, but caught an interview with Halpern. Funny thing was, the people he talked to in extreme locations, what we would consider dangerous, were afraid to live in a city like San Francisco or Chicago. Lots of humor-- one day I'll have to get this one.

Happy Birthday to Laurel!

Congratulations to the mother of the lovely Laurel on the anniversary of her birth. Job well done, wordworker!

Hi, wordworker...

All of wayfarer's and my clicks (and my sub-team's) clicks are dedicated to your Laurel today...HAPPY BIRTHDAY, Laurel!

Jack Helpern's book is well worth reading--the human race is very quirky and diverse.

Hi, again...!

colorbook...Welcome to the Rainforest thread!

Hey, ehBeth!

danon...
I've lived in F.W. for a lot longer than that...I first moved out here from Seattle when I was about 11 years old...which was a few years before Mt. St. Helens blew. (My son was born in '81.) When I was in the 8th grade, my family moved to Portland, OR for a couple of years, but then we moved back to F.W. I lived down at Redondo (WA) for several years before I finally moved a little closer inland and bought a house of my own instead of renting one...I miss the view, though!

You talked about the ash in Ellensberg - we were turning that stuff into my grandmother's gardens for years afterwards, too. At least the plants really like it once it's underground. I couldn't believe how much of it fell onto her roof and it had to constantly be shoveled/swept off or the weight of it would have caused damage. It seemed like as soon as you thought you'd gotten rid of it, you'd realize you hadn't. It was everywhere and in everything!



stradee and just susan...
I looked it up on a map and F.W. is approximately 144 miles north and a bit west of Mt. St. Helens. Luckily, that was far enough away from the mountain to be safe from all but ash damage/problems when it really blew, but close enough to get a really good view of the ash plumes every time the mountain spouted off.

After the mountain finally quieted down, and the park service finally allowed people to drive up into the area again, my husband and I went down there to take a look. You've probably seen the pictures of all the trees that had been stripped and blown down by the pyroclastic flows before - they kind of look like toothpicks knocked over like dominos - miles and miles and hillside after hillside of them. And, the houses that were burried to their roofs after being carried for miles in mud flows were amazing to look at. When you see it in person, it's totally different. We could never have imagined how vast the devestation was by just seeing the pictures on t.v. It was so much larger than that. We feet so incredibly small when we saw the magnitude of the damage done. It was really overwhelming - especially if you'd known what the area looked like before...

The mountain around here that we always need to view with the highest respect is Mt. Rainier. If Mt. Rainier ever erupts, that's going to be extremely serious! Mt. Rainier is huge compared to Mt. St. Helens and will do much more damage in a much larger area. We're leaving the area if Mt. Rainier ever starts to show signs of truly waking up.


Opps...didn't see you there, Noddy. Hi, to you, too!

I'm still watching the volcano-cam. Great while I'm on the phone here.

Congratulations to mother and daughter.

Interesting stories about volcanoes.
No volcano here, but we do have some earthquakes. Just today in Styria. To the delight of a friend of ours. She was writing a Latin test when the building started to tremble, the fire alarm went off and the school was evacuated. Coincidence, the topic of her translation was a part of Plinius- the eruption of Vesuvius.
Luckily no damage, just some cracks in some walls.

http://www.zamg.ac.at/quakemap

ehBeth,
this thread started with this link:

http://rainforest.care2.com/welcome?w=856730509

I am still using this link from my favorites:

http://www.care2.com/?p=949951040

Should I change my favorites?

Hello to all Wildclickers!

ul - it doesn't matter which link you use, as care2 "knows" you. Once you login, it attaches your click to your account - and then to the aktbird account.

I'd noticed that some newer clickers were saying they'd registered, but they never showed up on the team, so before I started this thread, I sent myself an invitation from the aktbird57 account - and got that new link reference. We've had two new clickers sign up since then - and they've shown up on the team. Phew, I was gettin' worried.

aktbird57 - You and your 282 friends have supported 1,547,036.0 square feet!

Matrix, wow - unbelievable! I've not seen valcano damage in peson, - but rode through an area after a terrible forest fire had devastated Mt.
Diablo in Contra Costa County. My home was separated from the fire by a meadow about the length of 2 football fields - that was it! Scary.

About a month afterwards, a friend and i rode our horses to where trails
that had once been clearly marked were no longer, instead the landscape looked like something from a war zone - acres and acres of
charred, destroyed plant life, and millions of pine trees gone. A family we knew were lucky enough to have saved their home and also supply fresh water and feed for displaced wildlife. A few years afterwards, the land replenished with new growth, and the area recovered.

Californians worry about earthquakes! Compared to Mt St. Helens, a few tremors seem tame by comparison.

Colorbook, cool avatar!

Hi ya Noddy!

justsusan, sending good thoughts for you, your bro, and dad.

Update on Wildlife: Today we were able to release a beautiful white homing pigeon that someone brought to the shelter. Guess the bird was seperated from his buds and landed in someones yard - and after a few days of rest, good food, and lots of attention from staff and visitors, the
animal perked, began grooming, and today we set the little guy free! Was so neat!

OK, I don't get it.
Before I went to lunch at about 2:30PM the news was showing steam and smoke rising from Mt. St. Helens. i just took a look at the volcanocam at 3:59PM and I'm looking at clear skies. What happened? Did it clear away so quickly?

ul, thanks for the question. I'd wondered the same about the link.

ehBeth, thanks for the answer - plus continueing posting team stats.

Earlier today I heard that there was about 15 minutes of boiling and steaming, and things calmed down almost completely afterward. Of course, the seismologists don't know what that means either.

I was lucky (?) to be on the phone, listening to someone blah blah blah, and watching the webcam just as the steam started blowing.

Wow, time flies!!! I'll start the new thread tonight. We are just over 250 posts now.

Hmmmmm, It was a dark and - - -
Hmmmm, stormy?
Naaaah - much too used.......
Hmmmm, steamy?
Naaah - way too trite........

Hmmmm,
Ahhhhh,
Sultry you idiot!!!!
It was a dark and SULTRY night!!!!!

LOL
paraphrased from "Throw Mamma From the Train"

Thanks Matrix, Stradee, and all for the healing thoughts. It seems to have worked because Dad is doing much better.

About three weeks ago the nurse told me to get everyone here to say their goodbyes, so I emailed everyone with an urgency they couldn't ignore. Each of my brothers came for a "final" visit-- from Chicago, from Hawaii, from Wisconsin, and my brother from Vallejo came to stay with Dad for a month. Finally we put Dad in the hospice program and moved him to a 15-bed care home here in Sunnyvale.

Maybe it was the extra attention and care, maybe the vitamins and iron are kicking in, maybe the effects of the mini-stroke are wearing off-- I don't know-- but Dad is definitely improving. He still can't walk, he lost his last two teeth, and he still can't hear anything, but he's eating like a horse, talking better, swallowing better, and breathing OK. He's still 91, but jerked that one foot out of the grave and decided to hang around a little longer.

Thanks for sending the good vibes!

KOMO TV Seattle --

Friday, October 1, 2004 / 4:28 PM (Pacific Time) KOMO NEWS ALERT: There have been 5-to-7 new earthquakes at St. Helens in the last few minutes -- some as large as 2.0 -- which is indicating there could be another, as they say, "throat-clearing" event within the next few days or weeks rather than months.

Mt. St. Helens Erupts; New Quakes Detected
October 1, 2004
By KOMO Staff & News Services
http://www.komotv.com/stories/33305.htm


Cascade Range Volcanoes - Current and Past Activity Updates
http://vulcan.wr.usgs.gov/Volcanoes/Cascades/CurrentActivity/



Mount St. Helens Erupts For First Time In 18 Years
KIRO TV Seattle
POSTED: 12:06 pm PDT October 1, 2004
UPDATED: 3:36 pm PDT October 1, 2004

MOUNT ST. HELENS, Wash. --
http://www.kirotv.com/news/3777435/detail.html



Steam blast at St. Helens
KING TV Seattle
02:58 PM PDT on Friday, October 1, 2004
From KING5.com Staff and Wire Reports

MOUNT ST. HELENS, Wash. --
http://www.king5.com/topstories/stories/NW_100104WAmountsthelensLJ.2b90bdc3.html

justsusan, good news! Thanks

just susan...

I just saw your post re your dad...That's wonderful news! It sounds to me like he is enjoying life and all the love that his family and friends have been showering him with. I'm so glad to hear that he's comfortable and talking and eating and breathing better.

Please tell your dad that he has a few friends out here in the world that he doesn't know, but who are thinking about him and wishing him all good things.

Thank you so much for letting us know...You've just made my day!

ul...
What a coincidence re your friend and the earthquake! Now, something like that would have just creeped me out!


Stradee...
I've seen forest fire damage in person before, and as awful as it was to see, I still have to say that the destruction caused by Mt. St. Helens - to see it in person - the damage is just so much greater than anything you can imagine. The pyroclastic flows and the mud flows changed the landscape so completely. When you drove down there, it was like you were being transported to a different planet. Totally insane!

danon...
You're better at this than I am...You tell 'em what it looked like down there after the 1980 eruption.


ehBeth...
That's cool you were watching the volcanocam when the eruption started today. All of the local noon newscasts had just started broadcasting from the Johnston Ridge Observatory and their helicopters flying above, when about a minute after they started, the mountain went off in the view of the cameras. It's a beautiful clear day here, and the timing couldn't have been more perfect!


just susan...
The cloud of ash and steam moved away from the mountain after the eruption in a southwest direction and last I heard they were getting a slight dusting of it in Portland, OR.

ALERT ALERT ALERT

I've just heard back from the aktbird and Aa. They are going to work on preparing the next thread!

danon, can you hold onto your idea for a bit? If the world keeps spinning as rapidly as it has been lately - we'll probably need to call on you by Hallowe'en.




Just Susan - great news about your dad!

Matrix - always great to hear your voice here - and to follow your links!