Quote:
Originally Posted by Sparrow
We might get an interesting sunset tonight.  |
Quote:
Originally Posted by GeoffC
There's a lot of speculation as to how long it will last - but honestly, despite 'expert' opinions it could last for weeks - months even .... 
If the eruption continues, we shall have to pray for a change in the (upper-level) winds.... |
I showed my husband the picture in Geoffʻs post and said "look familiar?" I see a view like that whenever I drive an hour south. Makes me kind of sick. Literally. We pray for wind on a daily basis- when we get wind, someone else gets our vog, which is a blessing in and of itself. It does make for gorgeous sunsets, but the loss of healthy air is not good.
Itʻs always been an issue, well at least as long as Iʻve been here, but it got super bad when the eruption took a turn for the worse about 2 years ago. For a while, people were evacuated. There is a daily "vog index" that lets people know how bad the vog is. For a while there was a rash of people wearing face masks. Sometimes, when I come off a plane from an island hop, I can just smell it in the air and I want to leave again.
Some days I think of the things I love about this place, other times I think there is no way I want my kids growing up breathing this air. Ironically enough, the principal of our school sent us all a link showing us that our school has some of the best air quality in the US. Uh, yes, because "they" (the people who wrote the article and live somewhere else) looked at how many factories, etc, were nearby. They did not take the volcano into account.
I hope this "blows over" quickly and lives for our European friends can go back to normal!