tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1616769513702255459.post6674713393487753900..comments2024-03-28T23:06:02.420-03:00Comments on The Southern Yankee: A Writer's Log: LIVING WITH PUYEHUEDan Newlandhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01054536465220812092noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1616769513702255459.post-84573826208962633082011-07-19T10:52:53.649-03:002011-07-19T10:52:53.649-03:00Glad to see you back, Sylvia, and sorry to hear ab...Glad to see you back, Sylvia, and sorry to hear about your husband. Thanks for always returning to read me. And thanks too for adding to this post by providing your own input.Dan Newlandhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01054536465220812092noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1616769513702255459.post-68792611859582704672011-07-19T02:01:51.150-03:002011-07-19T02:01:51.150-03:00Hi Dan! Way back, I read this fine narrative about...Hi Dan! Way back, I read this fine narrative about your personal Puyehue experience. Well, I'm finally here again and want to say that you & Virginia are a brave couple, living so far away from what's known as civilization. Your description is vivid and gripping; I like your reference to a "biblical" experience. It may very well be a taste of what's to come, who knows? <br />I like the pic of your cat, so indifferent to near catastrophic events! All your photographs are superb.<br />Today I heard on the radio that the first plane-load of Brazilians haS landed at Bariloche airport! Apparently there was a lot of hand-clapping awaiting them. Diana says there's been a big snowfall and then plenty of cold sunshine but...rain is predicted very soon. Oh well, if the Brazilians are stuck over there, perhaps they'll spend some much needed money for the locals. Depending, of course, on whether they're offered good bargains instead of being swindled, oh my!<br />To finish up, Diana & Roberto were caught on their way home from Buenos Aires the very day that Puyehue spewed those first ashes. They took 2 days (slept in Neuquén)and only just made it through the worst part, but would have had to spend a night in the car if they hadn't picked up courage to struggle on, since Vialidad ordered the route to be closed at 5 p.m. Pitch black at 3 p.m., out there! As you mention in your essay, they didn't get scared coz they were far too busy using their primitive survival techniques, albeit subconsciously. <br />It's been a great read, Dan, thanks for writing this! Abrazos.<br />PS: BTW, I'm way behind with my stuff coz my husband was in hospital for over a week; another cardiac crisis & mini-stroke, which is how coronary disease progresses. This one has put him in a wheel-chair with spoon-feeding, but he's amazingly aware & rational, recognizes everybody & adores being told he's handsome and much loved by all... ;-) The mind is very strange. Forgive my writing this here, but you know me, I use the web erratically. My mind? HA!Sylviahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01104063373122049938noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1616769513702255459.post-42715833529330654192011-06-19T20:06:24.205-03:002011-06-19T20:06:24.205-03:00Yes, of course Australia is West of Chile, Christo...Yes, of course Australia is West of Chile, Christopher. Thanks for the correction. <br />As for my statement about the use of chlorine bleach to treat water contaminated by materials issuing from a a volcano, you entirely missed my point. I was being ironic and my point was, precisely, that while bleach can indeed be used for bacterial contamination, it would have no effect whatsoever on mineral contamination. What I was saying was: fortunately, the volcano emitted nothing toxic. Had it indeed had toxic elements like high concentrations of heavy metals or arsenic, for example, by having an alleged "authority" tell people over nationwide television that they could make their water safe to drink by putting a couple of drops of bleach in it, that advice could well have been responsible for making thousands of people sick and perhaps killing them. That's not scaremongering, it's a fact and it's a call for the media to be more responsible in its reporting.<br />I, on the other hand, wasn't trying to scare anyone. I was, in fact, pointing out that charlatans passing for experts were frightening people with stories of "toxic ash" and of "unsafe water" when nothing was further from the truth. I was saying that there was NO truth to the scary stories and that people who didn't know what they were talking about should stay clear of microphones and TV cameras. <br />You simply misread me. I hope this clears up any doubts you might have - even if it doesn't change your mind about my being stupid.Dan Newlandhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01054536465220812092noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1616769513702255459.post-90561957480102003022011-06-19T19:22:11.041-03:002011-06-19T19:22:11.041-03:00Australia is West of Chile, not South.
Adding 1 d...Australia is West of Chile, not South.<br /><br />Adding 1 drop of chlorine bleach per litre is the standard way of treating water possibly contaminated by bacteria. It is not and never has been "mass murder". That's just stupid scaremongering!Christopherhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03937498999970147564noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1616769513702255459.post-78896314169243674372011-06-16T09:49:16.085-03:002011-06-16T09:49:16.085-03:00Thanks, John my friend. Te mando un abrazo!Thanks, John my friend. Te mando un abrazo!Dan Newlandhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01054536465220812092noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1616769513702255459.post-33498164859260879052011-06-16T08:44:16.713-03:002011-06-16T08:44:16.713-03:00Thank you for your comments, Murr. Thoughtful and ...Thank you for your comments, Murr. Thoughtful and clear-headed as always. And yes, you're right, it's the same everywhere.Dan Newlandhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01054536465220812092noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1616769513702255459.post-25781435049968901682011-06-16T02:34:28.565-03:002011-06-16T02:34:28.565-03:00You remind me of the first months of Mt. St. Helen...You remind me of the first months of Mt. St. Helens' 1980 eruption. We had a good long time to look at it, marvel at it, until one day the winds blew our way along with the volcano, and we got a similar amount of ash in our gutters and gardens and streets and (horrors) radiators. That is when I learned that a true crisis is measured as the ability to prevent the unfettered use of one's automobile. You would have thought the world had come to an end. <br /><br />I also appreciate your observations about the local news media and their insistence on a conspiracy of silence and wishful thinking, with the tourist trade determining the appropriateness of your news. It's the same all over the planet, isn't it? We don't really want to confront what is really in front of us, if it interferes with the production of major money, and so we go, ignorant, happy, unencumbered by reality, and eager to help dig our own graves. <br /><br />Glad you are well, and thank you for the report. We've been waiting for it.Murr Brewsterhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03422638986410813520noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1616769513702255459.post-26098497639917865622011-06-15T20:19:33.674-03:002011-06-15T20:19:33.674-03:00Hang in there Dan & Virginnia!
Remember you ha...Hang in there Dan & Virginnia!<br />Remember you have a safe house here in Iguazu! Your story really brought the message home of what's really happening out there and I thank you for that.<br />John@Iguazujohn fernandesnoreply@blogger.com