BikeBookBread Posted May 18, 2010 Share Posted May 18, 2010 ..... standing on the church steps watching the mountain erupt. Where were you? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Starr Posted May 18, 2010 Share Posted May 18, 2010 I was in Miami while family members in the Portland area were being descended on by ash. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BridgeTea Posted May 18, 2010 Share Posted May 18, 2010 I was watching the news reports on our first television, holding my infant son. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tap Posted May 18, 2010 Share Posted May 18, 2010 In elementary school. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ereks mom Posted May 18, 2010 Share Posted May 18, 2010 :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
milovany Posted May 18, 2010 Share Posted May 18, 2010 I was waking up at my friend Janine's house (I was staying there because my parents had driven to Canada for the funeral of one of my aunts who had died tragically in a car accident). We did not feel the "boom" because apparently it arched over Puget Sound -- my cousins on Vancouver Island felt it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GWOB Posted May 18, 2010 Share Posted May 18, 2010 I was still in my mom's belly:tongue_smilie:. I would not make my appearance for another 12 days. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cedarmom Posted May 18, 2010 Share Posted May 18, 2010 We were getting ready to go to church. We heard a noise like the garage door slamming. We didn't connect it to Mt St Helens until after we'd heard it erupted. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crissy Posted May 18, 2010 Share Posted May 18, 2010 I was standing on our front porch watching the mountain erupt. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dandelion Posted May 18, 2010 Share Posted May 18, 2010 I was 8 years old and living in Freiburg, Germany. I don't remember hearing about the eruption (didn't learn about it until I moved to Portland, OR in 1989), so not sure if it made international news or not... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crissy Posted May 18, 2010 Share Posted May 18, 2010 In elementary school. On a Sunday? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rfhsmom Posted May 18, 2010 Share Posted May 18, 2010 (edited) At church, but I remember watching the news footage in the library all day at school on Monday.(or it seemed liked all day for a 4th grader) Edited May 18, 2010 by rfhsmom clarity Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nicole M Posted May 18, 2010 Share Posted May 18, 2010 I was in Colorado, but when I moved to the Northwest a few years later, I learned that folks here count time in "before the eruption" and "after the eruption." Often, when folks were telling a story, they would say something like, well, that was before the mountain blew, so it must have been X year. I was fascinated by that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Katiebug_1976 Posted May 18, 2010 Share Posted May 18, 2010 (edited) I was 3 years old, standing on the couch looking out the living room window wondering why it was snowing dirty snow. We lived in Burlington, WA at the time. Wow, what a memory! Dh lived in Oklahoma at the time & said they even had some ash there! Edited May 18, 2010 by Katiebug_1976 adding dh's experience Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mysticamethyst Posted May 18, 2010 Share Posted May 18, 2010 Honestly, I dont' remember where I was or what I was doing. I'm pretty sure I was in 3rd or 4th grade. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dangermom Posted May 18, 2010 Share Posted May 18, 2010 Also in elementary school. At least, that's what I remember--I was too young to hear about it right away, I think, and we talked about it a lot at school. It's not like the Challenger, where I remember exactly what I was doing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Perry Posted May 18, 2010 Share Posted May 18, 2010 I was a junior in college in Boulder, Colorado. We had a fine layer of ash all over everything. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheCoffeeChick Posted May 18, 2010 Share Posted May 18, 2010 As my mom says ... I wasn't even a twinkle in my dad's eye yet. ;) It happened before I was conceived. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Natalieclare Posted May 18, 2010 Share Posted May 18, 2010 Honestly, I dont' remember where I was or what I was doing. I'm pretty sure I was in 3rd or 4th grade. Me, too! But a few days later I was traumatized by the eruption when I learned that my dear friend (and major crush) died on the mountainside. He was with his dad who wanted to photograph the eruption, in the blue pick-up that is in many of the photos. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
qfbrenda Posted May 18, 2010 Share Posted May 18, 2010 I was 7.5 yrs old. We were either at church or on the way home, I don't remember exactly. But I remember the sky getting very dark. We lived in Eastern WA at the time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crissy Posted May 18, 2010 Share Posted May 18, 2010 Me, too! But a few days later I was traumatized by the eruption when I learned that my dear friend (and major crush) died on the mountainside. He was with his dad who wanted to photograph the eruption, in the blue pick-up that is in many of the photos. Oh! I cried many times over THAT photo. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
myfunnybunch Posted May 18, 2010 Share Posted May 18, 2010 I remember hearing about it on the news and trying to figure out with my dad how we were supposed to get the ash off the cars. We live quite a way south, mid-Willamette Valley, and the skies were still quite dark with ash. It's still such a vivid memory for me, learning that a real volcano had erupted relatively nearby. Up until then, I think part of me believed that erupting volcanoes were the stuff of storybooks and nature television shows. Cat Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crissy Posted May 18, 2010 Share Posted May 18, 2010 I learned that folks here count time in "before the eruption" and "after the eruption." I was not quite ten so my memory could be cloudy, but I recall The Mountain being THE news story for a long period of time. More than a month, it seemed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DesertDweller Posted May 18, 2010 Share Posted May 18, 2010 Kansas. It was my senior year of high school. They were planning on having the graduation ceremony outside on the football field. We had a fine layer of ash and everything was instead moved indoors. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
myfunnybunch Posted May 18, 2010 Share Posted May 18, 2010 Here's a link to an OMSI (Oregon Museum of Science and Industry) project on sound and Mt. St. Helens, "An interesting sound project by OMSI abouut people who saw and heard Mt. St. Helens when it exploded 30 years ago.": http://www.oregongeology.com/pubs/og/OGv42n12.pdf Scroll to page 8. Cat Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
linders Posted May 18, 2010 Share Posted May 18, 2010 standing on the roof of our college dorm watching same. A few years later I got to climb it the very first week it reopened to the public and a few times since. Amazing! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Veritaserum Posted May 18, 2010 Share Posted May 18, 2010 I was a baby in my mother's arms. :tongue_smilie: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coffeefreak Posted May 18, 2010 Share Posted May 18, 2010 Excited because I'd just turned 5 and would go to Kindergarten next year!!!:laugh: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coffeefreak Posted May 18, 2010 Share Posted May 18, 2010 I just spent the last 1/2 hour reading about the eruption on Wikipedia. HOLY COW! I had no idea it was so destructive! I know that sounds incredibly naive, but, I was only 5 :) We also lived in North Carolina at the time, so it didn't directly affect us. It's so fascinating to read what they discovered as a result of that eruption. Why didn't I become a geologist?:lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mommaduck Posted May 18, 2010 Share Posted May 18, 2010 (edited) We were in McChord housing, surrounded by boxes to move to Anderson. My mama was nursing my 5mo old brother, we were watching the news, it was beyond dirty gray outside, no sky to be seen, the highway behind us was packed, and my stepdad was working round the clock moving emergency supplies and equipment due to the eruption. I just turned 6yrs and just finishing Kindy. Edited May 18, 2010 by mommaduck Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TravelingChris Posted May 18, 2010 Share Posted May 18, 2010 I was a junior in high school in VA. Saw and heard about it on the news. I loved earth science, still do, and was just really fascinated by it. NOVA had a show last week I think about Mt. St. Helen's 30 years later and how life has come back. I have it recorded and plan to watch it with my girls tomorrow since we are doing Earth Science now. It probably is available at the PBS website. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rosy Posted May 18, 2010 Share Posted May 18, 2010 I was meeting my baby cousin who was born that day. I was 4 and we lived far enough north that it didn't affect us, but I do remember news stories and my parents talking about it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TrixieB Posted May 18, 2010 Share Posted May 18, 2010 I was sitting in church. The organ was playing so we didn't hear the eruption. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
newlifemom Posted May 18, 2010 Share Posted May 18, 2010 My g-ma was watching me and we drove to Cornelius Pass Rd to watch. We watched all of the eruptions from the roof of my house. I also felt that first earthquake back I March. I was the only one from my family to feel it b/c I had just gone to bed. This reminds me that I need to call G-ma. I generally do on this day. Wow, 30 years. Ugh, I feel old. :P And yes, it was a Sunday. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colleen Posted May 18, 2010 Share Posted May 18, 2010 (edited) In elementary school. On Sunday?!;) ETA: HA! I just realized Crissy posted the exact same thing. Great minds o' dry humor think alike. *grin* Edited May 18, 2010 by Colleen Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colleen Posted May 18, 2010 Share Posted May 18, 2010 Thirty years ago today, I was standing near my house, watching the mountain erupt. I'm glad you posted this as I was just about to start a thread. I doubt people who didn't live here at the time can grasp how significant this event was and is to those of us who live in the shadows of the volcanoes. This anniversary is receiving a great deal of local attention, and justifiably so. What impresses me is how quickly a new ecosystem is emerging up there. Truly amazing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colleen Posted May 18, 2010 Share Posted May 18, 2010 I was 8 years old and living in Freiburg, Germany. I don't remember hearing about the eruption (didn't learn about it until I moved to Portland, OR in 1989), so not sure if it made international news or not... Yes, it made international news in a big way. My relatives in Germany were very aware of it. The ash circled the world and did affect air travel and weather elsewhere. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elise1mds Posted May 18, 2010 Share Posted May 18, 2010 As my mom says ... I wasn't even a twinkle in my dad's eye yet. ;) It happened before I was conceived. Glad I'm not the only 'baby' here... but my mom says she remembers the ash. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tap Posted May 18, 2010 Share Posted May 18, 2010 On a Sunday? I must have been at church, in my classroom (private Christian school, that used the classrooms as Sunday school rooms on the weekends). I remember being in that classroom, so I assumed it was school. LOL My teacher during the week was my Sunday school teacher, and the kids were grouped by grades, so many of us were together Sunday-Friday. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KJsMom Posted May 18, 2010 Share Posted May 18, 2010 I was almost 2 and totally oblivious. I remember learning about it in school later and it seemed like 'history' and a minor event. As I got older and realized how recently it had truly happened and what a huge impact it had, it was kind of like awe i guess. Really? Here? I thought those things only happened in other countries, kwim? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Noodles Posted May 18, 2010 Share Posted May 18, 2010 I was 9 years old and watching it on the news thinking WOW, fascinating yet scary. Now living up by it (well 2+ hours away) it's even more fascinating to think that mountain I can see while driving up on top of the I-405 bridge was once that volcano blowing its top. When we bought our first house in Hillsboro the lender said we had to get "volcano" insurance. We looked at each other puzzled?? He said it was because of the 1980 explosion that ruined vents and such in the houses that some lenders now require it. Crazy! Today some of the news channels are doing an "all day" thing on Mt. St. Helens. It's interesting to go back to the 1980s and see how things were then...no cell phone, just good ol' cameras doing the work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
milovany Posted May 18, 2010 Share Posted May 18, 2010 Me, too! But a few days later I was traumatized by the eruption when I learned that my dear friend (and major crush) died on the mountainside. He was with his dad who wanted to photograph the eruption, in the blue pick-up that is in many of the photos. Natalie, I never knew this! How incredibly sad! :grouphug: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
higginszoo Posted May 18, 2010 Share Posted May 18, 2010 I was across the country. I remember having ash on our car, etc. several days later. It was also big news in Weekly Reader for a while. I was not quite 8. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jen in PA Posted May 18, 2010 Share Posted May 18, 2010 I was 5, and remember my mother calling my uncle, a geologist, to comment that this was quite a thing to happen on his 30th birthday. He turns 60 today. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iquilt Posted May 18, 2010 Share Posted May 18, 2010 As a six year old I was oblivious to the actual eruption, but living in MT meant the next morning we woke up to an inch of ash over everything! It was the only time they closed school.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ellie Posted May 18, 2010 Share Posted May 18, 2010 We were in San Diego, but I couldn't tell you exactly what I was doing. My mother was in Graham, Washington, just south of Tacoma; her yard was covered in ashes, and she put some in a bottle and sent them to me. I still have them.:) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
********* Posted May 18, 2010 Share Posted May 18, 2010 Well, I was two, so I have no idea. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kate in VA Posted May 18, 2010 Share Posted May 18, 2010 I wasn't even born yet... not even a thought in my parents mind for another year or so.... boy does that sound weird!:glare: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
simka2 Posted May 18, 2010 Share Posted May 18, 2010 I was in the last open buisness, before they closed everything!!! Granted I was an infant being held by my mother, but I was right there ;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.