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Hello friends!
Last week I enjoyed a very restful Mother’s Day watching the neighbor’s plague party. They had several people over, and made some attempts at social distancing. Since then they’ve had visitors over nearly every day. If you’re interested in reading the details hop on over to 21st Century Plague Diaries, my shiny new writing adventure. I’ll be sticking with the business of sharing interesting things to amuse and educate you here, and over there I’ll write about the pandemic experience. Do sign up to have it delivered to your email, just like That’s Gneiss!
Do you remember where you were on May 18, 1980? Those of us that lived in the Pacific Northwest at the time can probably recall exactly what we were doing when Mount St. Helens erupted.
Good grief, was that really 40 years ago?
We live with the knowledge that any of several mountains in the Cascade range could become active volcanoes at any time. From Mount Baker to Lassen Peak, we have 13 historically active volcanoes in our midst.
That’s quite a few eruptions in the last 200 years! One doesn’t worry too much about instantaneous oblivion from any of these volcanoes, as they generally take a bit of time to rumble and get warmed up for the big show. A major earthquake on the other hand can strike at any time without warning, so in the scheme of things they are more worrisome.
Volcanologists at the Cascades Volcano Observatory keep an eye on all of these mountains to watch for signs of activity. They provide updates and information to help us prepare for an eruption. The great news is with all of their monitoring, they can warn people and minimize fatalities during an eruption. Know your hazards! Many folks living here in Washington may be surprised to learn that their nearby river is a prime conduit for far-reaching mudflows.
Anyhow. On to that fateful day 40 years ago…
Before the devastating May 18, 1980 eruption, Mount St. Helens was considered to be one of the most beautiful and most frequently-climbed peaks in the Cascade Range. Spirit Lake was a vacation area offering hiking, camping, boating, and fishing. (USGS)
Mount St. Helens was a near-perfect mountain before beginning to rumble on March 15th, 1980. On March 20th a 4.2 earthquake shook the area, and on the 27th the mountain started venting steam. Over the next several weeks activity continued to build and the mountain started to bulge. Earthquakes continued, small steam explosions created a new crater, and ash shot into the air several times.
Finally, at 8:32 the morning of May 18th, a 5.1 earthquake occurred and the mountain gave way in spectacular fashion.
Mount St. Helens erupting, May 18, 1980 (USGS)
Within minutes the north side of the mountain was turned into a wasteland. Trees snapped like matchsticks in the blowdown zone, mudflows barreled down the Toutle River, and ash reached 12 miles into the air. The skies in eastern Washington turned dark as the ash drifted east, some of it reaching as far as the midwestern states.
Despite precautions to keep people way from the mountain, 57 people were killed in the eruption. One was an old curmudgeonly innkeeper named Harry R. Truman, who famously refused to leave the area when told to do so. He became something of a local folk hero, providing many interviews in the weeks leading up to the eruption:
"If the mountain goes, I'm going with it. This area is heavily timbered, Spirit Lake is in between me and the mountain, and the mountain is a mile away, the mountain ain't gonna hurt me."
Needless to say, that mile between him and the mountain didn’t stop the 50 meters of pyroclastic flow from burying him in an instant.
The day before the eruption, property owners were allowed into the area to gather belongings from their cabins after pressuring the Governor to be allowed in. Many planned to make a second trip the next day.
Scientists were certain the volcano would blow open. It was just a question of when. Only a few amateur optimists mused publicly that the volcano might simply "go back to sleep." The cabin owners, like most of us, didn't know what to think. All they knew was that it was May, the month that marked the beginning of warm weather fun at the lake.
They were also compelled to save their possessions and prepare their properties as best they could for uncertainty. In the run-up to Saturday, some, brandishing guns, had threatened a confrontation with authorities.
The state's position was undermined by high-profile exceptions officials had made. Harry Truman, the legendary curmudgeon of the mountain, and a couple of seemingly credentialed scientists had been allowed to stay at the lake.
With political and public pressure mounting, Gov. Dixy Lee Ray blinked. She would grant access. But she wasn't blind; she would grant it on her own terms.
For six hours on May 17, she would open the Red Zone to the Spirit Lake property owners and to a select group of journalists. But we were repeatedly warned we would be casting our fates to the whims of the volcano. The State of Washington would bear no responsibility for what might happen to us. (Source - The Daily News, 2005)
On the morning of May 18th, I was with two of my friends after a sleep-over at one of their houses. We had slept in the travel-trailer parked in the driveway, as you do when you’re a 9th grader. We were awake, as one friend had already left to get on with her day. We heard a noise but didn’t think much of it, until my mother arrived a little later to pick me up. After she told me the mountain had erupted, I realized the sound we heard was not my friend’s mother slamming the door…
Just four years later I visited the area on a field trip with my Pacific Northwest Geology class. It was impressive and sobering to see the devastation up close, and at that time very little had begun to grow back. That was the quarter I decided to become a geology major. Oddly, I’ve never made a return trip to the mountain since then. Perhaps a visit to the Mount St. Helens National Volcanic Monument is in order once this pandemic thing is over.
Maybe in 2022.
Sources
1980 Eruption of Mount St. Helens - Wikipedia
The Eruption of Mt. St. Helens, 1980 - Storymaps, arcgis.com
Former reporter recalls trek to Spirit Lake hours before the blast - The Daily News (2005)
Mount St. Helens erupts on May 18, 1980 - HistoryLink.org
Tidbits
Pizza Island - a comic artist collective including Julia Wertz and Lisa Hanawalt
Looking for a short read? The 50 Best Contemporary Novels Under 200 Pages
Need books? Support independent book stores by shopping at bookshop.org (or buy direct from your favorite shop if you can)
Making: SO MUCH! I have been in the mood to do a lot of artsy things recently. Watercolors! Alcohol ink! Nature journal class drawing!
Recently eaten: I ordered some Shiitake mushroom snacks from Costco, and am happy to report Michael doesn’t like them so they are ALL MINE.
Reading: things are picking up in this area too.
Network Effect (The Murderbot Diaries #5) - Martha Wells
Tenements, Towers & Trash: An Unconventional Illustrated History of New York City - Julia Wertz
Printmaker - UPPERCASE Publishing
Rubber Soul: Rubber Stamps and Correspondence Art - Sandra Mizumoto Posey
Videos of the Week
Comic genius Fred Willard died this week, and I spent some time watching clips from A Mighty Wind and Best in Show. His characters never fail to deliver cringe-worthy laughs.
Question of the Week
If you feel like answering the question, hit reply to this email. Answers will be shared in next week’s newsletter - anonymously. Don’t be shy! General public commenting is available too at the end of this post.
Do you have a Mount St. Helens story?
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Our last question was what frivolous thing would you collect if money and space were not an issue?
There are so many things, it's probably very telling that I can easily make a list! 1. Beads. All the beads. Shiny beads, tiny beads, huge beads, fancy and plastic. I grew up working in a bead store, and I would easily fill my home with shiny baubles if allowed. 2. old Pyrex and Fire King. I actually have a nice tiny collection, but I don't buy it anymore because I don't have a good place to display them, and because as much as I love my family, no one understands that nice pyrex DOESN'T GO IN THE DISHWASHER. I've had enough designs ruined to know to leave it alone now. 3. Vintage embroidery and cross stitch patterns/magazine. Technically *not* books. Specifically, I love anything Ondori. The patterns are so sweet and sometimes strange.
No question: unlimited resources would likely result in my death by an avalanche of antique ephemera. So many postcards!
I would collect hobo timepieces and hermit walking sticks.
If I had unlimited resources, I would buy antique teapots, coffee pots, and chocolate pots, and hefty antique furniture to store and showcase them. If things got out of hand, I would also buy a frivolous house to make room for all of them.
I’d collect old photos, primarily from the 1940-1985 time period. Yes - that’s a bit of a range, but those have the best clothing, hair, home interiors, and cars!
Current Temperature: 64.4 F (18.0 C)
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