At 13th of February 2014, a volcano located more than 200 km away from my hometown was erupted. I could clearly hear the sound of the erupted Mount Kelud at that night, sending eerie vibe to all over the island.
I sent a prayer to people who might affected and went to sleep. Never expecting what might happened in the next morning..
Volcanic ashes poured from the sky, all day long.
For days..
And days..
The volcanic ashes were so hard to get rid off, no matter how hard we try. Wind blew ashes from trees to our roof top, to the streets, to the yards, everywhere.
No rain for few weeks, make it even worse.
The neighborhoods decided to take an action. We blocked a river’s stream located nearby the streets to rise up water level, resulting a small flood swamped the road.
I grabbed my flashlights and joined the neighbors, brushed and swiped 2-5 cm thick of volcanic ashes off from the streets. Help them with the lighting and with my man power.
We did it many times, every three nights or so, tirelessly.
I mounted my bike lamp (Fenix BT20) on to a hut, making a makeshift spot light. It really helped, the neighbors were so happy with it.
Fenix’s headlamp always on my head everytime I go out for the “cleaning job”, with some other brand of flashlights inside my pocket.
I never happy with the ashes, but I’m really thankful for having flashlights in the house. It helped me facing the difficult times with a little smile in my lips.
The ashes never really disappeared, until the rain pouring the holly water from the sky several months later.
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