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May 18th, 1980 was a long time ago

May 18, 2008 by Dave 2 Comments

sthelens200.jpgI was 8 years old. The West Hills blocked our view of Mt. Saint Helens, even standing on the berm in our backyard. On that day, however, we could see the massive plume of ash rising 12 miles (19 km) above what was left of the mountain.

That was 28 years ago today.

Later that summer white stuff fell from the sky in Portland and we ran inside to tell our dad it was snowing. It wasn’t snow of course. We collected ash in boxes, imagining we would make a million dollars selling it to tourists. Alas, the tourists were tough customers.

Background

1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens – Wikipedia

Mount St. Helens Precursory Activity: March 15 – 21, 1980 – U.S. Geological Survey/Cascades Volcano Observatory

News

Mount St. Helens: Devastating Beauty – KVAL

Lessons from the volcano in our backyard – The Olympian

Mount St. Helens dome building up close in time-lapse – The Oregonian

Bloggage

Mt. Saint Helens Anniversary – Eruptions: A blog of of worldwide volcanoes and eruptions

An Afternoon, A Full Tank of Gas, Chapter Four – Mile73.com

Funny

What’s Your Most Cherished St. Helens Eruption Memento? – The Naked Loon

Filed Under: Out of town, Secular Holiday, The West

Comments

  1. XUP says

    May 19, 2008 at 12:05 pm

    Wow – you’re old! You probably remember the day Kennedy got shot and the Beatle’s appearance on Ed Sullivan, too, don’t you?

  2. Dave says

    May 19, 2008 at 12:57 pm

    XUP – I’m not *that* old. I only vaguely recall bell-bottoms and Mork and Mindy.

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