Volcano Erupts without Warning in Alaska

 Before I step up on my soapbox, I want to put a DISCLAIMER out right now: THIS IS A JULZ = P.M.S./upset/in need of venting/Morning swim didn't help issue/blah blah blah post.  It is not meant to bring anyone down and if you think it may, please refrain from reading... Spank you :).

***** Steps up on quadruple-stacked soapbox[es]*****

Being that I lived on an island last summer that had an active volcano, I've become intrigued by how they erupt, why they erupt, why they stay active, etc etc.  Well, upon checking my inbox this morning, I found a plethora of emails titled "OKMOK CALDERA ERUPTS IN ALASKA WE MUST HELP TO FIGHT GLOBAL WARMING," all having been sent by my friends on Hawaii. I felt ashamed that I had not been following Kilauea more closely, as she, too, has been showing an increase in her activity.  ONTO OKMOK: Yesterday morning, around 11:45am, the Okmok Caldera crater erupted, sending ashes shooting 50,000 feet high to the nearby fishing port, Dutch Harbor (only 60 miles away).  

I felt as though a brick had dropped into the pit of my stomach.  While I woke up this morning worrying about how low on fruit and fage we were, there were people on Unalaska Island who were worrying about how they were going to get help and more importantly, how they were going to evacuate (families, pets, $, homes, personal belongings, THEIR LIVES).  I feel horrible about this.  THIS IS GLOBAL WARMING, yes, but it is also personally effecting so many families and ANIMALS (yes, I'm one of those people who think about the more helpless and too often abandoned animals).  The pictures are truly heartbreaking and frightening to me.  They show the recent increase in lava flow from Llaima volcano in Chile, Kilauea, and will soon be showing Okmok, too.  

But what can we do about this?  GEOTHERMAL RESOURCES could be H.U.G.E. for our Country's Energy Power Supply (up to 25%).  Sorry to bring politics into my blog, but Senator Obama is the only candidate, of whom I can recall, who's even mentioned the geothermal power supply (during a speech about alternative energy policies in Nevada).  If  there is any proof to Global Warming/Plate Tectonics, it could very well be the recent increase in Volcanic Activity (from all over the world).  I'm sorry but I just had to vent on this.

The pictures of the aftermath from the eruptions in Chile (June, 2008) are devastating, and frightening.  It makes me think about Kona, and her Volcano, Mauna Loa, which happens to be the Largest Volcano on the planet.  It has recently become active again, after being inactive for nearly 2 decades (this due to a volcanic bulge/mass found underneath her summit).  Anyways, it just makes me think, and this eruption of Okmok Caldera caught me by shock.  I feel ignorant and annoyed with myself, because I have been neglecting a situation that is SO important to me.  I'm really disappointed in ME and I feel as though I have let my friends/family in Hawaii down, but even more importantly, I feel as though I could do so much more with my fortunate, FORTUNATE life.  Do you guys ever feel this way??? I have always been someone who worries about situations that are WORLDLY and BIG (bigger than I, personally, can tackle), and I find myself feeling so overwhelmed by said situations, that after spending copious amounts of time fretting over them, I end up pushing them away until I receive emails or notifications from loved ones, reminding me that they don't just "go away."  (Sorry about the longest sentence ever...)

Anyways, I wanted to post more pictures today, but I am really feeling shapoopy from this.  I know that I could do SO much more to help with global warming and instead of "wishing, waiting, wanting, thinking, watching," my goal for myself is to JUST DO.  

*****Steps down from Soapboxes, hides NEGATIVE-NANCY face, RUNS BACK TO COMPUTER*****

Well, now that that is over with, and I sincerely apologize for this if it brought any of you down!  I didn't mean anything of the sort, but figured, 'hey, my blog is for me, right?  My friends are there to support... ' I have to go GROCERY SHOPPING right now, UGHHHH.  

(hehehe, just kidding!) This is something that I KNOW will brighten up my mood.  I put my cranky butt in the pool this morning to swim away my stress, which definitely helped, a lot, but I think this helped even more.  So, thanks for letting me vent to you guys!  And if you'll now excuse me, I have a date with Whole Foods Market and T-JizzleJazzles!  

I hope you all have a WONDERFUL Sunday, and again, I'm so sorry if this post brought you down!  If it did, I give you permission to never read my blog again?  Or I can bake you a cookie and send it to you?  I can do birthday parties?  Sweet sixteens?  (Sorry!!!)