Mt St Helens Day

[nwhiker]

I remember waiting for the eruption. I will still in Tunisia and my brother and I followed the St Helens news in the newspapers and on TV, there was always a volcano update. It had its own column space in La Presse (back page, right hand side), was usually on the front of the international news in the Le Monde, and the RAI -Italian TV- did a small segment on the news either often or daily. They reported on Harry Truman, as well.

I didn't think, back then, that I'd some day live in Washington state, LOL. I figured when I got out of the hellhole I was living in, I'd move to France or back to New York. Ah, life.

Anyhow, I also remember going to visit in a bit over a decade later, in the very early 90s. Things had started to come back, but it was still, very obviously, a blast zone.

Now... well, less so. I haven't been in the past few years -should make a point of visiting this summer- but 40 years later (gulp. I'm old!) it's starting to look, well, normal.

The funny thing is... the date took me by surprise this year. I mean, Mt St Helens erupted in the spring. I remember that, from waiting for the eruption. I remember from news reports, from talking to a friend who'd been out at the campground (that was subsequently destroyed) with her whole family over spring break, hoping to witness the show, but alas, the kids had to go back to school. I remember because I read and saw reports about the concern about the crops. Spring. If I look outside... it's not spring. LOL.