Where A'm a Gonna Go, When de Volcano Blows

Mount Redoubt has grumbly in it's tumbly. It gets gas on a regular basis, about every twenty years. It's been about twenty years. Redoubt is about a hundred miles south on the other side of Cook Inlet. It's closer to Anchorage, where I work. It's MUCH closer to Kenai, where I play. Nobody is too worried about lava flows. Very few are worried about floods from ice melt on the mountain sweeping through the Drift River Valley. What folks DO worry about is ash. Ash can drop airplanes from the sky. Ash can build up deep enough to collapse roofs and shut down traffic. Gritty ash can destroy rotating equipment and irritate the lungs of living critters. The critter I live with has asthma, and I went to the local stores to get a respirator. The newsfolk suggested we have water, generator, food for three days, air filters for our cars, and masks for our faces, just in case. The masks were sold out, but the clerk told me they would have plenty later in the day. He said the owners were here in '89 and '90, when the volcanos last blew. They swore they'd be prepared the next time, and they are. This afternoon, cases of valved masks were available. I bought a ten-pack for the same price as three individuals. I can use them for woodworking, if the mountain behaves. I bought some water. I checked the batteries and candle supply. I suspect that even if we get a poof, and the ash drifts our way, it will a minimum amount and the effects will be short term, but like the owners of the hardware store, we'll be ready. That's a pretty good feeling. Who thought we'd ever find a Jimmy Buffet song relevant in our lives.