Someone Valuable to me…

My Mom is very valuable to me. She loves and cares for me and others, by setting a good example, and by caring for others and not just herself. Mom doesn’t “throw anyone away.” Her trash can is ALWAYS empty, because she does not throw anybody away, and she cares.
Mom is an excellent cook, and she can cook for just about as many people as she needs to. She is a great basketball and volleyball coach, because she cares for our ‘little village school’ and has patience to work with people, and help solve problems. Mom often substitutes, and she’s great with students; older students, because Mom has strong morals and can be strict if she needs to, so the students respect her; younger kids, because Mom has patience and kindness. Mom has both sides to her, and that’s part of what makes Mom so valuable.
Mom is a vicious hunter. When she goes after an animal whether its a moose, caribou, sheep, goat, bear, or muskox, Mom means to come back with that animal. Mom has shot all those animals I listed above, and I probably missed a couple!!!
Just last year, Mom and I were hunting together, and a black bear came about 25-30 yards away from us, or so Mom says…I think it was more like 10 feet from where we were!!! Anyway, Mom shot it, and the bear ran a little way down the hill, then laid down and roared. A minute later, all was quiet. The bear was dead. This example is to show you that Mom takes things head on if something gets in her way, or if she comes across it or if it comes across her. The thing that was so amazing about that trip was that at that point Dad had to leave for work early, so Mom was in charge. So my point is that whether Mom has someone to protect her or not, she still does it.
Mom has high standards, and I am thankful for that. She teaches us what to say and do, and what not to say and do, and she got these good morals from her family growing up. One big thing she tells us goes something like this, “Love the LORD with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your might…” (From the Bible…) Another thing that Mom teaches my siblings and I is to have proper table manners.
If Mom doesn’t get her way, she doesn’t throw a fit, or stomp her foot. She lets it go, and doesn’t make a fuss about it. Shes fine with it.
Something that really impresses me about Mom is that she can do so many things at once, or in other words, multitask. For an example; she can coach, keep the house fairly clean, cook for the family, care for her children, think about trips and things to do in the future, help fix her daughters hair in the morning, shovel snow, and answers her kids and husband when they say, “Mom, come look!” or “WOW! Mom, come see this thing! Its so cool!!!…” Mom just does it all, and takes it a day at a time.
Mom is just an amazing Mom. She cares and loves her family, stays busy, and is a fun Mom. She is so kind and thoughtful. I love her VERY much.

Corsica
By Kilina

Language Arts
Mrs. Pancratz
10/27/09 to 2/1/10

Where and what is Corsica? Corsica is a little island off the coast of France and Italy, and is owned by France. The average temperature is 77° to 95° Fahrenheit, so it is comfortable weather to take a vacation there. Corsica is about 183 kilometers long and 83 kilometers wide. There are about 31 people per square kilometer. The population of Corsica is 240,000 people. The shape of Corsica has a little finger sticking out of the right, top side of the island. (‘Viva Corsica’) Corsica is a unique location and has many appealing features and history.

Corsica is the third largest island of the West Mediterranean Sea. Because of the warm location and ideal seas, the main tourist attractions in Corsica are swimming and spending time on the white, sandy beaches that are all over the island (mainly on the coast lines). Also, some people climb the rugged mountains and go snorkeling. There are also lots of forests and nature parks that are available all over Corsica to explore.

There are four main languages that are spoken in Corsica. The most popular language on Corsica is French, while the less popular languages are Corsican, Italian, and English – Some people understand a little English, but very few, so if tourists going to Corsica, will have a challenge communicating if they only know English.

Some of the oldest human remains on Corsica dates back to about 6570 B.C. The first civilization, which appeared in about the 70th century B.C, was called the Old Neolithic or Cardinal age. (Old Neolithic means relating to the cultural period of the Stone Age beginning in 10,000 B.C . and is labeled such by the making of polished stone implements.) This is important because it shows when Corsica started establishing traditions and starting to become populated. (Viva Corsica)

Another important historical happening on Corsica was the birth of Napoleon Bonaparte in Ajaccio in 1769. He took over Corsican affairs after the French Revolution. Something he didn’t realize was that there would be lots of problems and challenges ahead as a French revolutionary. He fought against the church that had created the rebelling beginning in 1798. This is an important fact because Bonaparte was very involved with Corsica and its history. (‘Viva Corsica’)

In modern Corsica, after the Second World War, millions of Corsicans emigrated to the continent, like to Marseille. In 1940, more than 90,000 soldiers from the Mussolini troops have occupied Corsica. (‘Viva Corsica’)
Tourism is a main part of Corsica, and about two million tourists go to Corsica annually. The economists’ opinion is that 10% of the wealth produced is from tourism. Most of the tourists are French, coming from places like Nice and Paris. Nice is about 303 kilometers from Corsica, and Paris is about 920 kilometers from Corsica. Foreign tourists are mostly Italians and Germans. The most popular tourist months for Corsica is mostly in the Summer, during the months of July and August. (‘Viva Corsica’)

Corsica has unique kinds of Gastronomy (meaning food), and if we Americans go over to Corsica and eat their ‘gastronomy,’ we have to have an open mind! A website that has Corsica information, said that cooks in Corsica use the food to show their ‘imagination!’ The main products that Corsicans use are olive oil, chestnut flour, honey, broccio (a type of cheese made from goats milk), and cheeses. Recipes have been handed down from generation to generation, and have been chefs’ greatest pleasures in their gourmet meals. Besides cooked pork dishes, other popular dishes are vegetables stuffed with broccio (Cheese made from goats’ milk), cheeses or herb fritters, mint and broccio omelets, herb turnovers, and octopus salads. (‘Viva Corsica’)
A summary of Corsican gastronomy is that Corsican food has a little different taste, due to who is cooking the food. Many people love Corsican food, so that is why tourists would like to try Corsican food.

Tourists that like history, interesting foods, and good tourist places ought to look into booking plane tickets to Corsica!

Mount St. Helens – 1980 Eruption By Kilina

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Before Mount St Helens erupted in 1980, it was known for being one of the most attractive and interesting stratovolcano ever seen on the Cascade Range. The Cascade Range goes through California, Oregon, Washington, British Columbia, being about 700 miles long. (“Cascade Range -,” 1998)

People, including volcanologists, studied Mount St Helens the most in the twentieth century. Even though most people were not expecting the huge ‘1980’ eruption, they were aware of the danger that could occur. Quite a while before Mount St Helen erupted, the USGS made a base for communication in Vancouver, Washington, to help watch the volcano, Mount St Helens.

Mount St Helens made history on May 18, 1980, on a bright and clear Sunday morning, at around 8:32 (PDT). Since it was a Sunday, Very few loggers were out working. The problem was nobody out there knew what was coming.

When Mount St Helens started erupting, it continued erupting for about nine hours. About an hour and a half before the eruption, volcanologists saw signs that indicated that the volcano was going to blow, and volcano bulging, sulfur-dioxide gas, and an increased ground temperature reading gave the people warning signs. During the first part of the eruption, hot rocks and gas quickly melted snow and ice capping, creating mudflows, or also known as lahars. At about 20 seconds after 8:32 am, a 5.1 magnitude earthquake hit, which caused the north face of Mount St Helens to collapse and make a HUGE landslide, reducing Mount St Helens from 9,677 ft to 8,363 feet. When the landslide occurred, it shook the volcano more, so that the magma inside Mount St Helens couldn’t contain itself any longer; as a result, Mount St Helens made history for the biggest eruption on May 18, 1980. (Tilling, Topinka, & Swanson, 1994)

Ash and steam followed soon as the eruption progressed. Ten minutes after the eruption started, an ash cloud formed over 12 miles high. Near Mount St Helens, ash pieces blew around, causing lots of wild fires. As Mount St Helens kept erupting, and wild fires still burning, the ash cloud moved in an east-northeasterly direction, and spread into even more places. For more than nine hours, the ash plume kept moving, eventually reaching12-15 miles above sea level, and causing 540 tons of ash being dumped over a 22,000 mile area. The wind moving the ash plume moved about 60 miles per hour, meaning ash was hitting Idaho around 12:00 pm. (Tilling, Topinka, & Swanson, 2005)

A logging camp, called the Weyerhaeuser group, lost about 60,000 acres of trees, lots of equipment, and camps got destroyed from Mount St Helens. But to make up for their loss, within two years the Weyerhaeuser group had salvaged enough trees to build 85,000 (three bedroom) homes. Since a lot of the trees got salvaged, the Weyerhaeuser group planted over 18.4 million trees in a 45,000 acre area, planting it all by hand. (Smith, 1998)

The people near Mount St Helens started cleaning up immediately, and the people noticed that Mount St Helen did too. The Congress made an area by Mount St Helens, which the people called ‘Mount St Helens National Volcanic Monument.’ This area, about 110,000 acres, has been preserved, so it can fix itself up.

A lot of nature has come back. Lots of animals were lucky because they were beneath the snow and ice when Mount St Helens erupted. Several lakes weren’t harmed because they were frozen solid. Seeds also came back because at the time when Mount St Helens erupted, the wind and water had them covered up, or temporarily blown away. (Smith, 1998)

The loss from Mount St Helens was lots of trees, nature, and human life. Total, there was a widespread loss of about 57 people.

Now, Mount St Helen is thought of as a big, threatening dangerous, but cool volcano that you have to watch to see if it blows, but it has a lot of history in it, and people have done a lot of research on it, so Mount St Helens is very well known.

After the 1980 eruption, between 1980 and 1986, Mount St Helens has been growing on the north side. Mount St Helens started erupting in September 2004, and stopped completely in January of 2008. As of January 11, 2010, Mount St Helen is code color green, which is meaning normal, because there is no seismic activity at this time.

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1964 Earthquake
by Kilina
November, 2009
March 27, 1964 was an important day. This date is also known as Good Friday. Before 5:36 pm, the world was fine. From 5:36 pm until 5:40 pm Anchorage changed a lot, and not for the better. The earth shook for over four minutes, then, in some places, there were aftershocks and tsunamis. The estimate magnitude of the earthquake was 9.2. Anchorage was a mess! JC Penney’s had opened recently, but after those five minutes, JC Penney’s was destroyed.

JC Penney’s was destroyed beyond repair, and gone. The Penney’s building consisted of huge concrete panels that were five inches thick. The concrete panels broke off from the building and fell into the streets. A woman driving in her car was hit and killed by one, and also a man crouching in the street was hit and killed by a panel. One lady was stuck in her car after a concrete panel fell on her. She ended up with a broken neck, but she still survived.

Before 5:36pm on March 27, 1964, the world was going on like nothing happened, but after that time, the world was going on like something did happen.

There were 113 tsunamis, and 15 earthquakes is what caused $311 million dollars of property loss, and the earthquakes lasted in five minutes, and the tsunamis lasted that day, and the day after. The earthquake also caused ground liquefaction; causing soil and sand temporarily turn from a solid to a liquid. (“Alaska”) Heavy landslides in Anchorage caused lots of damage due to the land liquefaction, which destroyed approximately 75 homes. (Historic Earthquakes) The 68 foot tall concrete control tower at Anchorage International Airport came down, killing the air traffic controller.

Also, to add to the destruction, water, sewer, and gas lines ruptured, causing lots of fires. Telephone and electrical service was not available at the time, which caused a major problem, because people couldn’t let the fire fighters know where the wild fires were. The telephone and electricity didn’t work because the poles were burning up, and getting destroyed.

The total deaths in Alaska caused by the 1964 earthquake was 131 people, and the total from the 1964 earthquake in California~13 deaths, Oregon~4 deaths, Washington~Minor damage by the coast, and British Columbia~$10 million dollars damage. I do not know why there were so many deaths in other places, but there were sure deaths and damage!

March 27, 1964 is a memorable day, because so many lives were taken, and there was lots of chaotic destruction, which led to Alaskans now being more cautious than they used to be, with the giant plates clashing and making earthquakes like the 1964 earthquake in Alaska.

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Hurricane Hugo ~ 1989 By Kilina March/April 2010

Hurricane Hugo, a category 5 hurricane in this case, formed on September 17th 1989 in Charleston South Carolina, but was first seen on the satellite imagery when it was a cluster of thunderstorms in the Atlantic Ocean. The storm lasted until September 24th. (NOAA, 2009)
Hurricane Hugo started as thunderstorms, moving off the west coast of Africa. The hurricane switched from a hurricane to a tropical storm on the 11th of September, when the storm was east of the Leeward Islands. The tropical storm turned into a hurricane on the 17th, while at Guadeloupe, and stayed with the title as a ‘hurricane’ through the 24th. (Tropical Weather, 2010)
Hurricane Hugo was under the ‘category 5’ because the definition for category five is winds over 155 mph and the storm surge is usually bigger than 18 feet above normal. (The National Centers for Environmental Prediction) Hurricane Hugo’s wind speeds was about 99 – 175 miles per hour. (USA Today, 2002)
Hurricane Hugo caused 8,491,561,181 dollars of damage just in the United States. South Carolina was hit the hardest, causing about 7 billion dollars of damage alone just in South Carolina. (Library on the Web, 2010) Hurricane Hugo got the title as the costliest hurricane ever until Hurricane Andrew occurred in 1992. (USA Today, 2002)
After the hurricane hit, the work began for the people in that area. Houses got demolished, and South Carolina alone lost lots trees just from Hurricane Hugo. In the process of moving all the debris out of the area, my Uncle Hudson, who lives in South Carolina, was working with a bucket truck. The big mistake that he made was that he forgot to put the stabilizers. Uncle Hudson went up in the bucket, and the whole bucket truck tipped over, while he was in the bucket, and he fell around 70 feet down to the ground. (He jumped before the bucket got to the ground, though.) The worst injury was that he broke his pelvis. He got other injuries, but not as bad as the pelvis.
When Hugo was over Atlanta, the wind speeds were around 100 miles per hour. When Hugo was further inland, in Charlotte, the winds were about 65 miles per hour. This shows that the further the storm goes inland, the slower it goes, because the land slows it down, and the ocean is kind of like fuel to the hurricane. (The State)
Hurricane Hugo was a very destructive hurricane, and at the time it was one of the most destroying and chaotic storm ever. Hurricane Hugo started on the coast of Africa, and ended up in South Carolina.