Posted on 05/18/2005 8:41:21 AM PDT by HairOfTheDog
Lots of people were making ash-things and selling them.
"Ash trays" were an obvious hit.
My uncle, who lived in Toutle, brought us two buckets of the stuff from his yard.
Selling it to tourists was the only way to get rid of it ;~D
Heh - ditto ;~D
Heh. It would be interesting to know how much was carried away by the wind, compared to how much was shipped away by the postal service. :-)
Volcano Cam appears to be down.
We were gonna go down there today, they are having big events there today and everything is free... But it's pretty rainy.
Mount St. Helens Victims' Kin Sound Off (asking for an apology)
I got some ash from my family that lives in Lake Stevens. As an 8 year old boy living in NoDak I thought I was pretty cool showing that to my buddies.
I dont think I'm making it up but the sky was darker/hazy sometimes in the summer...at least I think I remember that happening.
I was just 8 years old, but I remember the blast waking me up (it was Sunday) in Everett, about 150 miles away.
That first big eruption didn't leave any ash, but some of the later ones did. The pictures from Yakima were scary...pitch black at noon.
My mom also chartered a little plane in the year(?)after and we flew down to see it. The sight that always amazes me most were the miles of toothpick forest in the blast zone. An unbelieveable amount of force.
I took these pictures just this year from the window of an airliner. All was overcast, but the mountain poked through and was steaming that day.
That's an odd picture. There's NO sign of Tourist Guy in it!
Oh, Lake Stevens huh? they beat us in football my Senior year(Edmonds High) in the last game keeping us out of the playoffs. Bastards.
By the way, I was also 8 yrs old.
Mornin'.
We lived in Spokane at the time.
We went to church that morning, came home, ate lunch and then we all took an afternoon nap.
My mom called and said, "What do you think of the news about the mountain?"
We had not had the TV or radio on so I had no idea what she was talking about.
A while later, the western horizon was turning dark like a major thunderstorm was headed our way. Shortly it became so dark, the streetlights came on.
We went outside and it was really wierd. None of the normal sounds of birds chirping, very little traffic noise - just wierd. Then, the ash began to fall. Lightly at first, then heavy like a heavy snowfall, and it created a barely audible hissing sound.
The ash we received was super-fine density, much like cement. Some folks were out with hoses attempting to wash the ash down stormdrains. So much water was being used, that a couple of pumps on city wells burned up.
A visit to local fire stations provided residents with face masks and we were cautioned to wear them whenever we went outside.
A local talk-radio station, KSPO, became the "unofficial-official" source of up to date news. Officials took calls from the public and one in particular was quite amusing...
"Hello? Is it true that Burlington-Northern Railroad owns the top of Mt. St. Helens?"
"Yes, as I understand it"
"Could you tell me who to call to tell them to come get their mountain out of my back yard?"
I have a small container of Mt Saint Helen's Ash that they gave out at Kentucky Fried Chicken!
Well, my friends probably played for them back then because I eventually found myself in WA and finished high school in Marysville.
I remember that it was the big news on my birthday in 1980, but I wasn't anywhere near the place (still living in the SF Bay Area at the time).
Happy Birthday.
What makes you think today is my birthday?
;^)
Thanks!
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