Post by Evangeline on Apr 9, 2007 17:34:46 GMT -5
<<< OK, I'll put in what I've made of the intro before I go out tonight, be back around 10. Hope this is enough for now>>>
Diary of Dawn Hurley, age 11:
March 7:
I just landed in Denver today. It's a long way from St. John's. Aunt Tamara picked me up, and my cousins Brian and Charity too. Aunt Tamara is Mom's sister who married an American and moved to the States. My uncle's family are also Mormons. They live out in the country near Cortez, Colorado, and it was a long drive. I am going to be spending March Break with them because Mom wanted me to get to know my cousins.
March 8:
Uncle Drew took us for a drive around the country. There isn't much snow on the ground, but it's still cold. We saw Mesa Verde and the Pueblo dwellings, and some mule deer too. On the way back he pointed to this big mountain in the distance and told us that this is where the "Seekers" live. He said they were kind of "New-Agey", but harmless, and they breed horses on a big ranch. They had lots of rooms and stuff underground, he said, because they thought there would be some kind of disaster coming and they wanted to be ready. Aunt Tamara says they're "a little batty", but nice. Maybe sometime this week we'll go to the Ute reservation and the Four Corners where they say you can get down on fours and be in four states at once.
March 9:
Early this morning, while it was still dark, the house shook and we heard a rumble from far away, and my aunt and uncle got a call from their neighbors to turn on their TV. The news channel was showing a big eruption at Yellowstone, with a huge black cloud reaching into the sky, shaped like a giant tree in the sky and this was from miles away. Uncle Drew said a few swear words when he saw this, and Aunt Tamara looked really worried. They're going to the basement and bringing up supplies now. My uncle said that Mormons were supposed to keep a lot of things on hand just in case. I learned what a "caldera" was, and the one under Yellowstone just went off.
Later - Uncle Drew just got a phone call. He knows some of the Seeker people and they can take in some extra people. He says the ash is falling and the air is not going to be good to breathe soon, and we'll have to go in the truck, which he already loaded with supplies. I can't write much more - he wants us to go.
March 10:
Yesterday we made it to the Seeker place and brought our supplies in, but we had to leave the truck outside with all the other vehicles and ride in on ATV's with our stuff tied to the backs because there are no good roads in to the shelter. Everyone was trying to be calm, but when I heard the air vents shut, I was afraid. They say there's enough to keep us going for years, but there are so many people here, and animals too. They have pens and stables right in the caverns. There are horses, sheep, goats, pigs, llamas, rabbits, chickens and a few cattle, and some dogs and cats as well. There is lots of grain stored here and cisterns for water that go really deep, and even rooms where they can grow things. At least when I visit the horses I can forget about the outside for a while.
March 16:
Uncle Drew just came in from outside with a bunch of other men. They were all in special suits with "Draeger packs", and they had ash all over them. They say it's pitch-black out there, and the ash is getting several feet thick and covering everything. The woman the seekers call "Mama Tess" was with them. They were doing something out there, nobody would really say what, but everyone was wondering what they were doing with these funny old mirror-like things when the sun was blotted out, and Mama Tess was awfully particular about where they went. The adults don't say much to us kids, but I hear that they can't get any radio and TV stations any more, not even by satellite. They all went off the air, one by one, just a few "hams" now in other parts of the world. It's not much better over there either. I think about Mom a lot. I don't know what happened to her and everyone back home. All the adults are working in shifts to keep everything going, Seekers, people from the reservation, Mormons and whoever was lucky enough to get here in time...
Diary of Dawn Hurley, age 11:
March 7:
I just landed in Denver today. It's a long way from St. John's. Aunt Tamara picked me up, and my cousins Brian and Charity too. Aunt Tamara is Mom's sister who married an American and moved to the States. My uncle's family are also Mormons. They live out in the country near Cortez, Colorado, and it was a long drive. I am going to be spending March Break with them because Mom wanted me to get to know my cousins.
March 8:
Uncle Drew took us for a drive around the country. There isn't much snow on the ground, but it's still cold. We saw Mesa Verde and the Pueblo dwellings, and some mule deer too. On the way back he pointed to this big mountain in the distance and told us that this is where the "Seekers" live. He said they were kind of "New-Agey", but harmless, and they breed horses on a big ranch. They had lots of rooms and stuff underground, he said, because they thought there would be some kind of disaster coming and they wanted to be ready. Aunt Tamara says they're "a little batty", but nice. Maybe sometime this week we'll go to the Ute reservation and the Four Corners where they say you can get down on fours and be in four states at once.
March 9:
Early this morning, while it was still dark, the house shook and we heard a rumble from far away, and my aunt and uncle got a call from their neighbors to turn on their TV. The news channel was showing a big eruption at Yellowstone, with a huge black cloud reaching into the sky, shaped like a giant tree in the sky and this was from miles away. Uncle Drew said a few swear words when he saw this, and Aunt Tamara looked really worried. They're going to the basement and bringing up supplies now. My uncle said that Mormons were supposed to keep a lot of things on hand just in case. I learned what a "caldera" was, and the one under Yellowstone just went off.
Later - Uncle Drew just got a phone call. He knows some of the Seeker people and they can take in some extra people. He says the ash is falling and the air is not going to be good to breathe soon, and we'll have to go in the truck, which he already loaded with supplies. I can't write much more - he wants us to go.
March 10:
Yesterday we made it to the Seeker place and brought our supplies in, but we had to leave the truck outside with all the other vehicles and ride in on ATV's with our stuff tied to the backs because there are no good roads in to the shelter. Everyone was trying to be calm, but when I heard the air vents shut, I was afraid. They say there's enough to keep us going for years, but there are so many people here, and animals too. They have pens and stables right in the caverns. There are horses, sheep, goats, pigs, llamas, rabbits, chickens and a few cattle, and some dogs and cats as well. There is lots of grain stored here and cisterns for water that go really deep, and even rooms where they can grow things. At least when I visit the horses I can forget about the outside for a while.
March 16:
Uncle Drew just came in from outside with a bunch of other men. They were all in special suits with "Draeger packs", and they had ash all over them. They say it's pitch-black out there, and the ash is getting several feet thick and covering everything. The woman the seekers call "Mama Tess" was with them. They were doing something out there, nobody would really say what, but everyone was wondering what they were doing with these funny old mirror-like things when the sun was blotted out, and Mama Tess was awfully particular about where they went. The adults don't say much to us kids, but I hear that they can't get any radio and TV stations any more, not even by satellite. They all went off the air, one by one, just a few "hams" now in other parts of the world. It's not much better over there either. I think about Mom a lot. I don't know what happened to her and everyone back home. All the adults are working in shifts to keep everything going, Seekers, people from the reservation, Mormons and whoever was lucky enough to get here in time...