Palmer Boomers and Pounders

January 15th is now a Historical Date—It will be remembered as sonic boom day—the day when Palmer Alaska received percussive reminders from Tonga. It was both wild and fantastic.

Too Early—Early morning on Saturday, when normally everyone is sleeping heavy, the enormously loud booms hit our Palmer area. They were multiple and repetitive. Few people were already awake and many more were actually awoken by these loud noises. No one knew what they were. The police and state troopers were contacted.

Social media questions and queries also erupted. What is that noise?

Palmer Public Speculation Begins—It’s an earthquake. It’s JBER having some military exercise at 4am. It’s an avalanche. The Knik glacier had calved, loosened and was moving. The Alaska Railroad was responsible. Perhaps the ice was breaking on the rivers. There was a gang of kids doing fireworks. It was those darn neighbors again moving all their vehicles around. North Korea was firing off bombs. Plumbing Pipes were exploding. Another druggie party was shutting down. There was a bear in the house. A truck hit the building. Wasilla was having a small war. The cats were jumping on the counter. Santa was revisiting. Russia was attacking. The dogs were fighting. The pigs were remodeling their shed. An owl was bludgeoning a rabbit on the roof. World War III had begun. Dinosaurs were plodding up the river bed. Animal warfare was happening in the barn. Large animal mating and fighting was in process. Aliens were on planet earth.” And my very favorite: “It was a giant was stomping through the valley.”

Information Happens—Within quick order, accurage information started to arrive. It sounded unbelievable but as time progressed the science was verified by multiple sources. In fact the Hunga Tonga Hunga Ha’apai underwater volcano had exploded in the Pacific Ocean. This volcano is about 6000 miles away to our southwest. Its biggest continental neighbor is New Zealand and Australia. It is in Polynesia—in the southern hemisphere—south west of Hawaii. It’s frankly a VERY long way from Palmer, Alaska. The sounds of these sonic eruptions and shock waves took nearly 7 hours to reach the Palmer area. That means that the big booms were carrying their amplified weight in sound and impact—all the way across the oceans and up the coastlines—until we heard and felt it. This is pretty crazy world phenomena—when you think about it.

In Wonder of It All—So now we know what happened and what didn’t happen. This is reassuring. However, it is interesting the way our minds worked. It’s curious the conclusions we jumped to, without information. It’s fascinating to think about the smallness of our world and how this natural occurrence has altered the geography of the world. Was a brand new island born? How does this island community survive this blast? What did the sea creatures think with this explosive shock wave coming through them? Do dolphins and whales react to this? Will fish stocks be affected? Does this rumble from the Pacific Plate actually translate into the voice of the inner world? There are so many questions that are provoked by the Tonga drumming.

Future Remembrances—No doubt this will be a story we retell. It’s that good. This story will predictably also get better with age and embellishments in its’ retelling. It was January 15th in the wee hours of the morning when the Pacific Tonga Drum woke Palmer Alaska! And it was so cool!

This Week in Palmer—Wednesday Night is History Night at the Palmer Moose Club at 7pm. Mat Su Middle College Information Night is also Wednesday night at the Glenn Massay Theater. There is plenty of basketball, hockey and there is a play at the Valley for Performing Arts. There is a pitching clinic at the Palmer Junior Middle on Sunday. The Ice Maze is open at the Alaska Fair Grounds. “Learn to Ski” is at Backcountry Bike and Ski on Friday evening and sponsored by the Mat Su Ski Club. There is a Cabin Fever Reliever at the Palmer Train Depot on Saturday Night, sponsored by the Hatcher Pass Avalanche Center. There is live music at the bars and fun stuff at 203 and the breweries.

Barbara Hunt is both Palmer writer and artist. She works hard to keep the robust pulse of Palmer, Alaska. She shares the good stuff in the weekly Palmer Alaska Buzz Column in the Mat Su Valley Frontiersman and daily on the Palmer Alaska Buzz Facebook Group. Her “Palmer Buzz 2022 Community Calendar” is available at the Palmer shops. Contact at bhunt@mtaonline.net or text 907.315.3222