"Is there anything you can do, such as frequent air-filter changes, to keep a car running when there's a lot of ash in the air?"

I was talking to a neighbor who was caught traveling downwind of St. Helens' big blast. They were out in the middle of nowhere. He said he would have to stop and pull out the air filter about every two miles to knock the ash out of it. He would pass people in stalled cars and yell out the window, "Clean out your air filter!" Some girls asked, "How?" and he stopped to show them.

People who've had no experience with volcano ash get a rude awakening when they have to deal with it. It isn't like wood ash.

Looked at under a microscope, you're looking at shards of broken glass. This is what causes the lung and eye problems.

It is very, very fine, and very light. It floats and flies and hangs in the air. You can't sweep it or shovel it, as it just becomes airborne again. It gets through every unsealed crack in every building.

It's really a health hazard to everyone, not just to people with breathing problems. Those glass shards stay in the lungs, like asbestos or silicosis -- you can't cough it out, it stays forever.

For all its lightness, it holds water like a sponge. I've read that if you have 4" of ash on your roof and get enough rain, it will collapse your roof. It changes from incredibly light to a substance like wet concrete.

Don't underestimate this stuff. If you've got it coming down, use breathing protection. And don't wear tight clothes, either. And keep your pets indoors, too.

Sue