Tue, 2010/04/20 - 8:58pm
I know. There are hundreds of thousands of stranded airline passengers around the world. And it's costing $billions.
And here I am amused. 
My daughter's high school choir, you see, took a spring break trip to Italy. To sing at the Vatican. Yes, this is about a $5000 field trip... (And no, I can't really afford to live in this town.) These poor, poor (cough!) teens have been (gasp!) stuck in Italy! Past the end of spring vacation! They are missing school and extracurriculars! They are... pretty much hanging out at a lakeside villa costing their parents an extra $50/day surcharge on fine Italian dining, and heaven knows how much for the hotel.
Now me, at that age - I'd think I'd died and gone to heaven! 
Anyway, now I keep getting email alerts of the school's efforts to Retrieve Our Stranded Students. The town's first selectman was contacted. Our Congresscritter. The US State Dept. The US Embassy in Italy. (You're picturing these poor, poor stranded kids having the time of their lives sightseeing, right? So am I.)
Apparently now the airlines have a lottery going, to determine who gets seats when on resuming flights. So the kids are coming home in piecemeal groups. Assuming the flights take off... But earlier today they feared Our Stranded Students might be vacationing, er, frightened and stranded in Italy another week or more.
Apparently there's another field trip from the nearby city of Waterbury - bunch of high school students now stranded in Poland.
I bet there are going to be a lot of fun stories out of this.
Oh - anybody heard any theories about what all this ash will do to the growing season weather this summer? (You see! I did tie this into growing! Sort of!)
Sat, 2010/04/24 - 8:53pm
#2
Hi Gisette,
Yup, those poor kids! I wish I was stuck over there! You should have been a chaperone! I actually was supposed to be in the UK until my trip was posponed. A work paid vacation in London would have been cool! Oh well, can't plan a volcano outbreak.
Beth
Sat, 2010/04/24 - 9:18pm
#3
Ooh, too bad your trip was postponed!
They're still saying it'll be til Wednesday or so until our final students (and teachers and chaperones) return. By now, probably all the juniors and seniors who have AP exams in May, have probably whined their way into the first seats out, and everyone left is happy to stay indefinitely.
Wed, 2010/05/05 - 2:55am
#4
Nice picture. What do you do when your garden is yielding more delicious produce than you know what to do with?May is right here and with it comes May Day gardening. You have heard the exact same old song and dance about growing gardens, why gardens are good for you, exactly why they are good for our economy, how they assist you be self sufficient, and so forth. So why not talk about something new today, seed bombs! This really is something I recently come across, and I am going to have my children out tonight to achieve this. Put a lot of seeds that are native to your region, into a naturally degradable material of some sort for instance cheese cloth and chuck them into an empty location. Ignored recreational areas, unfilled lots, everywhere with dirt where the seeds won't get dug up. You have just helped our atmosphere by having fun, so go out and bomb some bare lots!
Don't worry, it will all blow over.