Today is a beautiful day. The sun is shining, the sky is blue and so clear that you can see the peaks of the Andes mountains, so far away. I took advantage of this gorgeous day and took a long, satisfying walk that found me following a muddy road that took me way out into the country. For I long time I kept going, I barely saw another human, but I did see lots of animals. And to my right I could see a volcano (I think of Orsorno), the white cone shape standing out nicely against the blue sky, and straight ahead I could see the the ash cloud that continues to pour out of the Volcano Puyehue nearly a month now after if began erupting. It was a great walk.

Yesterday, with a friend, I went to Entre Lagos, a town that lies on the western side of Lake Puyehue, and yes, on the other side of that lake is the volcano. We hoping to be able to see the volcano, but it's not possible due to all the ash. But you could definitely see the giant ash cloud. We stood on a dock out on the lake and watched as the cloud changed shape, and actually the ash is moving quite quickly. You could also clearly see where the wind is blowing the ash. It looked as if someone with a VERY big hand, smeared a light grey, purplish color of paint across the sky. It goes for a very long way. Entre Lagos was a lovely little town, and the lake one of the calmest I've seen. I picked up a few volcanic rocks (pumice stones) to take with me as a memory. They are super light, almost as light as popcorn.

Happy 4th of July to everyone! Tomorrow I will be celebrating with my 5th and 6th graders as we have our last workshop together. I will probably bring in some potato chips and oreos or whatever I else I can find.