[alaskayorkie]

We have a volcano about 100 miles away, Mount Redoubt, that has been blowing up with increasing regularity lately. We'd escaped getting ash until tonight, when we got a dusting. It's not terrible, just a nuisance. Have to keep the dogs indoors when it's falling, have to wipe off their paws when they do go outside. Make sure they don't eat snow.

The biggest problem is what it does to cars. You have to change air filters often. It can mess with automatic windows.

The Alaska Volcano Observatory has an amazing Web site that tracks happenings. Here's a picture of a seismograph on the mountain. Isn't this cool? Each big blotch on the chart is a major eruption, which sends ash anywhere from 40,000 to 60,000 feet high. The red lines generally indicate that the blast was "off the charts."

Also, here's a photo by Bretwood Higman / groundtruthtrekking.org via the Alaska Volcano Observatory that shows lightning striking as the volcano was blowing last night.