Oooooh, what is that smell, is it the volcano? or the refrigerator?

[Beverly]

Yesterday evening i was relaxing, doing some yoga when a foul smell permeated the house. I wasn't sure whether to leave all the windows and some doors open or if i should close them. For sure all the ceiling fans were going. Since our volcano (Volcan de Colima) has recently become active again after blowing its top through the entirety of 2015, I thought of the volcano first. From time to time volcanoes have, what the scientists call, a degasification. What most people call it is a colossal volcano fart. I only remember experiencing one other such degasification that was 100% sulphur, like rotten eggs. Colima is on the southwest slope of the mountain and for ash and farts the wind is usually in our favor, mostly coming from the Pacific Ocean. This day, there was hardly any breeze at all so we were blanketed, not in ash but in a foul, inescapable stench. I sniffed the entire house and then sniffed the garden, o yes we were blanketed alright. I checked some news services for information about a degasification and nothing was being reported.

I started to wonder what else the smell could be. I remember being told (a long time ago) that the gas in the refrigerator that causes things to freeze in the freezer part, is very toxic and if any chemical like smells are coming from the refrigerator, it should be immediately unplugged. I must admit to being completely ignorant of refrigerator technology although i do pay attention to how energy efficient my fridge is, that is about all i know. Still no news about a degasification. I'll call the repair people in the morning.

The repair person showed up at 2 pm. The smell had mostly subsided. "Your fridge is just fine ma'am, it was the volcano".
My mind was at ease and i thanked them for checking. Then i started thinking how absurdly funny the whole experience was and how i never would have expected to have this conversation in my lifetime. We really never know what is just around the corner for us...and then, i started to laugh.

 

[Novelangel]

When something starts to smell in my home, the usual culprit is my garbage disposal needing to be cleaned out again. One of the best tricks for de-smelling the disposal is to drip a little orange or lemon scent down into it. It smells wonderful in my kitchen after doing that. Too bad it doesn't last forever, but at least it gets rid of any lingering yuck.

 

[amelia88]

When something starts to smell in my home, the usual culprit is my garbage disposal needing to be cleaned out again. One of the best tricks for de-smelling the disposal is to drip a little orange or lemon scent down into it. It smells wonderful in my kitchen after doing that. Too bad it doesn't last forever, but at least it gets rid of any lingering yuck.

Same here with our garbage disposal - I usually just cut a lemon into pieces and let the garbage disposal chew the whole thing up, rind, pulp and all. Love that freshness that lemon gives!

 

[Becky]

I'm glad you got to the bottom of the smell, sounds awful! How long is it expected to last?

 

[zigs]

Blimey, hydrogen sulphide is very toxic, have they given any warnings out?

 

[Beverly]

Yes, i love the idea of deodorizing and cleaning with lemon and orange. It will also kill some germs, but doesn't work if the smell is coming from a volcano

@Becky and @zigs. The smell was strongest during late afternoon and evening. By morning some of it lingered but it was mostly gone. The ceiling fans did a good job of getting the smell out of the house, but my poor garden plants! I don't remember if it rained that evening, but it probably did. We are now having tropical rains almost every night. I looked all over the place for news but found nothing locally. Probably there was chatter on Twitter and Facebook but i don't do either of those. Discovery Volcanoes website had an ash warning that went in the opposite direction of Colima but said nothing of a degasification. I think in the night there were winds as well that helped disburse the fumes. The plants have now been well washed with heavy rain (probably laden with hydrogen s.) and didn't seem to be bothered by the smell or the toxins, i suppose there is hydrogen sulphide in the rain barrel. At any rate, it's just another day in the life of having an active volcano for a neighbor. Inexplicably, everyone (including myself) loves this mountain and is not much bothered by it.

 

[DeborahJane]

Yesterday evening i was relaxing, doing some yoga when a foul smell permeated the house. I wasn't sure whether to leave all the windows and some doors open or if i should close them. For sure all the ceiling fans were going. Since our volcano (Volcan de Colima) has recently become active again after blowing its top through the entirety of 2015, I thought of the volcano first. From time to time volcanoes have, what the scientists call, a degasification. What most people call it is a colossal volcano fart. I only remember experiencing one other such degasification that was 100% sulphur, like rotten eggs. Colima is on the southwest slope of the mountain and for ash and farts the wind is usually in our favor, mostly coming from the Pacific Ocean. This day, there was hardly any breeze at all so we were blanketed, not in ash but in a foul, inescapable stench. I sniffed the entire house and then sniffed the garden, o yes we were blanketed alright. I checked some news services for information about a degasification and nothing was being reported.

I started to wonder what else the smell could be. I remember being told (a long time ago) that the gas in the refrigerator that causes things to freeze in the freezer part, is very toxic and if any chemical like smells are coming from the refrigerator, it should be immediately unplugged. I must admit to being completely ignorant of refrigerator technology although i do pay attention to how energy efficient my fridge is, that is about all i know. Still no news about a degasification. I'll call the repair people in the morning.

The repair person showed up at 2 pm. The smell had mostly subsided. "Your fridge is just fine ma'am, it was the volcano".
My mind was at ease and i thanked them for checking. Then i started thinking how absurdly funny the whole experience was and how i never would have expected to have this conversation in my lifetime. We really never know what is just around the corner for us...and then, i started to laugh.

Hi Beverley. I just checked Volcan Di Colima on the web. Really fascinating, luckily for me no "smellovision". No wonder you all love it, quite magnificent. Can you see it from where you are? I visited New Zealand quite a few years ago and experienced that rotten egg smell, not pleasant I must say, hopefully it doesn't "degasifart" too often!!!!

 

[Beverly]

You are soooo funny @DeborahJane, smellovision Too bad, i'll send you some via SmellBook, or maybe Smellogram. Sometimes when i am taking photos of flowers i wish cameras could record the fragrance.

Well, it probably makes a lot of degasifarts that go unnoticed. Like discrete ones or ones that catch a breeze in the opposite direction. I have noticed only two big ones in 8 years. Thank you for loving our rebel child of a volcano. Do you know that in violent explosions there is so much friction it creates its own lightning?. There are some super photos of this happening at night. Yes, we are very proud, "Wired" magazine voted it the most spectacular volcano of 2015.. I can't see it from my house, i have to walk 2 doors down to see it. It's funny though when tooting around town in the car, the mountain appears and disappears at the strangest times and seems to move around a lot. The body shops all got rich last year from people rear ending other people in cars. It got to the point where folks were not even stopping to exchange information. Just a wave. It is spectacular though to be anywhere in view and see it literally blowing its top off....like Kerblooie to the power of 30.

 

[DeborahJane]

The lightening sounds really spectacular....i gather there's no thunder to go with it. I love them both, safe and sound at home ofcourse, but our poor old dog doesn't. Whimpers and barks and races around. He might enjoy a bit of lighting effects without the sound effects.
.

 

[Beverly]

I am afraid it does not make its own thunder, but it booms hugely coming out the shoot. The first time i heard the booming i thought it might be construction related and i turned around and the volcano was just going berserk. Let me see if i can find a photo...just a minute. Here are two. Often the lightning is hidden within the smoke and ash of the explosion so when Tapiro came out with a dozen or so of these photos, it caused quite a stir

Here is one of my favorite photos of his during an avalanche, but the white stuff is not snow. He said this was one of the shots that made his heart beat the quickest. He jumped out of the car, got this photo, turned the car around, and really beat it out of there. I don't know how many metric tons of debris came down and filled up all the ravines, buried many grazing cattle and undoubtedly some wild life. The butterflies are only now starting to come back. There was no loss of human life. The mountain is about 1 thousand feet shorter (about 300 meters) than it used to be. There is water in the magma of this volcano which causes it to explode in such a dramatic way.

 

[Becky]

Wow!

 

[zigs]

Cor Blimey

 

[marlingardener]

You might want to take out a life insurance policy on that photographer. Anyone who saw that coming at him and stopped the car to take a photo probably won't last long.
Great photos and descriptions of what living near a volcano is like.

 

[Beverly]

He lives in the small touristy town of Comala just up the road from Colima and has won many international awards for his photos. He used to camp at night just a little bit farther up the road in the 2nd photo and stay up all night waiting for the volcano to blow. People have no fear of this volcano, but they do have respect. I believe Tapiro grew up in Comala and he was wise enough to stop the car and then make a speedy retreat. He knows this volcano very well and i think we will have him around for many more years. But you are right, i believe he did say he had a heart stopping moment taking that photo.

 

[Tjohn]

What AWESOME pictures !!