Mount Saint Helens’ Eruption

 

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.

 

Rain, Rain, Go Away!

It rained a lot yesterday and the highest temperature I saw was 47 degrees.  It is snowing in the mountains.  It is our winter weather at the latter half of May.  We received almost 2 inches in the last two days.

Almost all of the critters at Schoonvoer Farm are sick of it (including us!).  It has been a long wet winter and now a long wet spring.  Sydney is tired of standing in wet pasture.

The only ones here not upset about it is the surviving 9 turkey chicks,

the fish in tanks in the house, the wild ducks and the geese.

The runoff and resulting damage from the development behind us is tremendous.

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In funner news. the pigs are settling in and enjoying their first bagel.

Happy Sheep

Tom rebuilt the pasture fence that was taken out by the cottonwoods this week.  So after 2 months we have a pasture for the sheep.  And they are thrilled.

They are eating the cottonwood branches that are sprouting there,

and the buttercup flowers.

We bought really good (and expensive) fencing because we do not want to do this again.

Of course, it hailed on the sheep this evening now that they do not have a barn to run to. But, all in all, I do think they are happy.