I have experienced several earthquakes here that have scared me, and I usually am not scared by much. My wife and I woke up one early morning and our house was just shaking, and shaking and shaking. It seemed as if it would never end.

We also have had news that activity has picked up at Yellowstone Park. The magma flow is creating a huge dome under Yellowstone Lake. In one area of the northern Yellowstone Park area, the ground is so hot, 200 degrees Farenheit, that that section has been shut off to the public. It registered at 200 degrees just two inches below the ground's surface.

The media seems overly quiet about what is going on there, but people who have been into Yellowstone Park are afraid that a large volcano may be set off someday soon. Oh, and remember Old Faithful? It is off time now as well. Things are changing. I think that the west is a beautiful place and I've driven up into Utah, Idaho and Wyoming a lot; it is beautiful, but as I say, things are a bit unsettling here from time to time.

By the way, were you in the Army? I served in the Marines as a Sergeant (Aviation Supply) and later as an officer in the Navy Reserve (Supply Corps). I once applied to become an interpreter while I was in Okinawa, but soemhow the Marines lost my paperwork.

Cecil