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May 18th – Do you know where you were on this date?
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May 18th – Do you know where you were on this date?  It’s a big day of remembrance in our neck of the woods. Like remembering Neil Armstrong’s first steps, or the deafening silence in the air on 9/. May 18, 1980, the day Mt. St. Helens erupted scarring the land some 230 miles or so. We lost 57 lives, notably geologists, photographers, campers and a cantankerous old man willing to fight to let the mountain take him. Beautiful campgrounds and hiking trails, fishing lakes and areas surrounding the mountain were forever changed. It was like a death of a memory. I remember my friend who grew up near the area in the larger town of Kelso , which shares a border with the county seat in Longview. She loved growing up in that town and invited me one year to go on “The Loop” with her. The Loop, though it sounds like a bike/hiking trail was actually an annual Labor Day Weekend festivity that the locals did where they bar hopped caravan-style from town to town all night making a loop from Longview to Kelso to Castle Rock to Toutle to Cougar and back to Kelso/Longview area. It was 1978, I had just turned 21. All I remember was old bars with worn wood floors, a nameless faceless manfriend of hers who looked after me as I twirled around the old fashioned cast iron street lamps in one town and tried to do cartwheels with no hands in another. [Not recommended!] I believe some of those little towns were hit hard by the mud flows that followed the eruption. I lived in Portland at the time. We didn’t get the ash fallout that cities north and east of that mountain did. That Sunday, my bestie and I were trying to follow the sun and were heading to Central-ish Oregon to Kah-nee-ta Warm Springs resort. [Ha! Another memory gone, I’m told] Actually it’s near another mountain in our area, Mt. Hood. I remember looking to the north and seeing the voluminous ash cloud blanketing that part of the sky. We put toilet paper around the air filter in the car as ash fell like small snowflakes around our house. As we drove, I thought immediately of crusty ol’ Harry Truman, the iconic man on the mountain that the press and forest rangers had strenuously warned to evacuate. My heart ached. The radio played tributes to him. For once, my friend and I drove in silence, letting the radio fill the void of sound. Do you remember where you were that day?  ~~~" Someone I loved once gave me a box full of darkness. It took me years to understand that this too, was a gift." --Mary Oliver~~~ |
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It’s a big day of remembrance in our neck of the woods. Like remembering Neil Armstrong’s first steps, or the deafening silence in the air on 9/11. May 18, 1980, the day Mt. St. Helens erupted scarring the land some 230 miles or so. We lost 57 lives, notably geologists, photographers, campers and a cantankerous old man willing to fight to let the mountain take him. Beautiful campgrounds and hiking trails, fishing lakes and areas surrounding the mountain were forever changed. It was like a death of a memory. I remember my friend who grew up near the area in the larger town of Kelso , which shares a border with the county seat in Longview. She loved growing up in that town and invited me one year to go on “The Loop” with her. The Loop, though it sounds like a bike/hiking trail was actually an annual Labor Day Weekend festivity that the locals did where they bar hopped from town to town all night making a loop from Longview to Kelso to Castle Rock to Toutle to Cougar and back to Kelso/Longview area. It was 1978, I had just turned 21. All I remember was old bars with worn wood floors, a nameless faceless male friend of hers who looked after me as I twirled around the old fashioned cast iron street lamps in one town and tried to do cartwheels with no hands. Not recommended! I believe some of those little towns were hit hard by the mud flows that followed the eruption. I lived in Portland at the time. We didn’t get the ash fallout that cities north and east of that mountain did. That Sunday, my bestie and I were trying to follow the sun and were heading to Central-ish Oregon to Kah-nee-ta Warm Springs resort. [Ha! Another memory gone, I’m told] Actually it’s near another mountain in our area, Mt. Hood. I remember looking to the north and seeing the voluminous ash cloud blanketing that part of the sky. We put toilet paper around the air filter in the car as ash fell like small snowflakes around our house. As we drove, I thought immediately of crusty ol’ Harry Truman, the iconic man on the mountain that the press and forest rangers had strenuously warned to evacuate. The radio played tributes to him. For once, my friend and I drove in silence, letting the radio fill the void of sound. Do you remember where you were that day? ~~~" Someone I loved once gave me a box full of darkness. It took me years to understand that this too, was a gift." --Mary Oliver~~~
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That was the spring that I started farming for myself, I was 13 years old. I would work in the Fields till dark every night. I remember my dad was out in that area right afterwards and brought my sister a 3 lb coffee can of ash back. Anything worth doing is worth doing right
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I always wondered what Truman did after he retired
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I was a continent away, living and working no more than 60 or so miles from the Atlantic Ocean, just as I had all of my life. That's about all I can tell you - no SPECIFIC memories, though I can certainly understand why you have them. Looking Forward To Summer This One Especially And in the Category of AFF News THE News [post 3312759] My Private Post - Tell Me ALL Your Secrets – Anything you write here is just between us
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Wow... That is a fascinating account that really anchors the perception to history come alive... Such a catastrophe is on par with a Chernobyl like occurrence. I find volcanos and mountains to be highly interesting. I once memorized the word eyjafjallajokull with accompanying factoids, for an exam... *. *. *
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I know that I watched the news and thought, man, that's terrible. It was an impressive show of the brute strength and unforgiving wrath of nature. Your memories just added the warm colours that were missing from what I watched that day. Thanks for sharing your glimpse; I can only imagine... 🌹❗ ... is there another way to look at it Going Too Fucking Far NEW Blog Features RevealeD O O A Foolproof Method Posted Over on that NEW site O O
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Lived in Denver , Colorado at that time . I remember the News reports about it but don't remember what I was doing at the time  
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There was even a thin layer of ash coving my ranch in EO that seem to make everything grow better that year for some reason.
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Actually I do remember watching the news that evening as back in the dark ages that was along with newspapers the only way to find out about these things.
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5/21/2021 11:55 am |
Business trip Atlanta GA had to drive instead of flying in.
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5/22/2021 5:12 pm |
I was in bed that Sunday morning. I thought it was funny that someone was doing some dynamite work in the Samish Hills just outside Bellingham. Wasn't that many people working Sundays in those day. I was working shift shift myself and it wasn't until l reported to work at 4 pm that l found out Mt. St. Helens blew its top. I guess when a mountain erupts 200 miles away it sound like someone doing dynamite work. But a whole lot more rock, soot, ash, trees, even rivers moved that day!
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5/25/2021 7:36 pm |
Nope, hardly saw anything. Had to drive south to see the damage!
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