I have been thinking about the eruption today on its anniversary.  I have been reading a great recent book called Eruption about it and learning about the details that lead up to it and the events of the day itself.  There are a lot of details that I did not know about.

I remember seeing plumes from the volcano in the spring of 1980 from near our home in Bellevue.  And I remember learning that it had erupted while shopping with my stepmother at Lamonts in Burien.  There was live television footage in the store.  Later I went with my mother to our family cabin near Cliffdell, WA to clean up the ash there.

Before the eruption I mostly remember the mountain from my school camp trip to Camp Cispus.  This trip was memorable for me and thousands of other students.  I remember how beautiful the mountain was near the camp.  Just today I learned that although the camp is in the Mount Adams’ watershed (not Mount St. Helens’) and that it only had some ash to show for the eruption, it was financially damaged by this eruption.  That is sad for me to hear because I learned a lot there.  The details are at http://www.awsp.org/awspdocuments/WP/Learning_Centers_WP_Fall_2015.pdf

So I am remembering this eruption and the people who suffered and died because of it.  And really appreciating the fact that we live amongst volcanoes that deserve our awe.