Benci's fine!

My little sweetie is feeling much better and thanks all of you for your well wishes.

I was thinking today while I rode my bike home under the gorgeous blue sky. I was thinking about volcanoes. Living over here on this side of the pond, the volcano eruption is rather a big deal. I know dozens of people that have had travel plans interrupted, everyone started coughing in the past few days, and the volcano continues to erupt. It's strange to think of how something so natural, like a volcano, can totally disrupt the whole world.

The last time this volcano erupted, in 1821, it erupted off and on over a period of two years. It also caused the eruption of a much larger and deadlier volcano nearby. The smoke and ash could be seen in the sky over Europe for months. The movement of the ash eventually led to the discovery of the jet stream, as people noticed the setting sun painting the sky unnatural shades of red and purple. Like this:

Apparently this is actually what the sky looked like in Denmark. Who knew?

And all of this ruckus got me thinking about the fact that I really am quite far away. I guess I never really noticed it before. For me a flight across the Atlantic is not a big deal, just a slightly inconvenient day. Remembering the time difference has become second nature and I do it without thinking about it. Hungary has become so natural to me that I rarely even notice how different it is. Sometimes I open my mouth and Hungarian just tumbles out without my having planned it. I can talk to my family on my cell phone while I'm out running errands and it's crisp and clear. I forget that I'm far. I just forget it, because to me the world is a small, cozy place.

The concept of not having the ability to fly for months or even years throws into sharp relief every one of those 4396 crow-flying miles (or 7075 crow-flying km for my metric-speaking friends) from Budapest to West Clifford, though.

Random funny thing: http://www.smosh.com/smosh-pit/lists/12-best-test-answers-all-time
The answer to "What is hard water?" killed me. KILLED me.