Homer's Best Bets </MCC HEAD>

Story last updated at 8:28 PM on Wednesday, April 8, 2009

Homer's Best Bets

Please make it stop.

While gorgeous spring weather lured Homer out of its winter doldrums -- weather that in normal years would cause much jubilation -- this week volcano-weary citizens actually prayed for rain. Yes, rain: that warm, wet liquid H20 that last summer drove us crazy.

OK, we can never make up our minds. Sunshine next week, rain the next, whatever, we'd settle for a good sloppy spring blizzard. All we want is anything that will bury or wash away last weekend's surprise little Mount Redoubt explosion.

Photo by McKibben Jackinsky

A sign of spring This pair of eagles sets up housekeeping in a nest near Happy Valley.

Unless you're lucky enough to live way out East End Road, the rest of us woke up Saturday morning to a landscape right out of Tranquility Base. Throw in a few Tang swilling astronauts and a lunar rover and you'd swear you were on the moon. According to scientists at the Marshall Space Center, that's not too far off the mark, the online newszine RedOrbit noted. Moon dust and volcanic ash are a lot alike: grimy and abrasive. If you've been shoveling, hosing down, coughing up and trying to deal with Redoubt's latest burp, you know this stuff is a real pain in the ash. At least if this were the moon we could bounce around in low gravity and shoot golf balls over the horizon.

Well, tough. You're on planet earth, on the Ring of Fire, and you might as well get used to volcanoes blowing up every time the Alaska Volcano Observatory lowers the alert level to watch. That's just their nice way of saying, "Look out your window when you wake up tomorrow."

Eventually we'll get through this latest eruption and life will get back to normal. While you're waiting for the ash to settle and the rains come, hey, why not try out some of these Best Bets -- and hopefully they won't be canceled:

BEST WRITE AWAY BET: What's up with the writers in this town? It seems like every week the Homer News book editor gets another review copy of some hot new book by a local author. Nature writer Miranda Weiss is only the latest, with her book "Tide, Feather, Snow" coming out next month. Hear her discuss her ideas on writing with a writers workshop at 6:30 p.m. today at the Homer Public Library.

BEST BLOWN AWAY BET: How many $500 electric bills must a person endure before it will ever end? The answer is blowin' in the wind -- or rushing in the river. Learn about renewable energy at a Renewable Energy Forum sponsored by Homer Electric Association at 6:30 p.m. next Wednesday at the Alaska Islands and Ocean Visitor Center.

BEST SWEPT AWAY BET: Looking for a date? Oh sure, you can put on your dancing clothes, brush up on your smooth moves and cruise the bars, but that's like so disco. Better yet, head over to the Bachelor-Bachelorette Auction at 8 p.m. Saturday at Kharacter's and rent yourself the companionship of a fine gentleman or lady for the evening. Proceeds benefit Kachemak Bay Family Planning.

BEST SING AWAY BET: So exactly how many of the Kilcher clan have become amazing musicians? "A lot" might be the best answer. Check out the latest generation when Atz Lee Kilcher joins his dad Atz for "Take Time to Find Your Song," a concert at 8 p.m. Saturday at Bunnell Street Arts Center. There's a $15 suggested donation.

BEST FLY AWAY BET: This weekend marks Christianity's most holy days with Good Friday and Easter Sunday, but there's a little fun on the holiday, too. His Earness, the Easter Bunny, flies in for a special appearance at 12:30 p.m. Sunday at the Homer Elks Lodge with an Easter egg hunt to follow. The Bunster also visits at 1 p.m. at the Ninilchik American Legion. For more Easter events, see page 1.