Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2020/05/18
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]Wow, Aram, those images bring back memories! I remember vividly the approach of the ash cloud, appearing to boil and bubble downward, and the ersatz sunset light on the horizon. And the dusty, never-ending mess for weeks afterwards. Thanks for posting. I put my memories into another post, along with a newspaper article I wrote about the experience. I crossed the state a couple of weeks later. Rt. 2 was clear, so I went to Seattle that way. Then it rained, and I-90 was opened. So I traveled through the hardest hit areas, Moses Lake to Ritzville. Unbelievable. Twenty-foot piles of ash bulldozed in parking lots like after a blizzard. Everything appearing like a black-and-white photograph with an occasional splash of muted color. --Peter Aram wrote: > The 40th anniversary of the eruption of Mt. St. Helens.? I can hardly > believe so much time has elapsed.? We lived in the small (pop 1100) town of > Odessa in Eastern Washington at the time.? I was actually on a camera club > field trip with the town doctor, pharmacist, and postmaster to Idaho and > Canada.? We were in Nelson BC when we heard of the eruption earlier that day > and had to drive back through some harrowing conditions the last 40 miles or > so.? I have included two images of the ash cloud at about 1:30 PM on the > 18th that I did not take, since I was 300 hundred miles away. > > The start here: > http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/Aram/AM/Darkness+from+ash-4.jpg.html > > The cleanup took weeks.? The first day no one quite knew what to do.? Was it > safe to be outside?? The news media did not have too much information.? Some > of the photo kind of remind me of what we are going through now with this > virus thing.? Masks were in order and our little town quickly ran out.? My > parents in Seattle sent us some that we got as soon as mail started? up > again.? Our first order of business was to dig out snow shovels and wheel > barrows and shovel the ash off the lawns, drives and sidewalks.? The on the > next day we discovered we needed to do the roofs, too, so had to repeat the > lawns etc.? It was like snow that did not go away.? We were beat by about > day 6.? Not sure how many roofs I did for folks that could not manage it. > Then the National Guard came and we were glad to see them. > > Enjoy the photos.? I have many more but don't want to bore you too much. > Comments welcome. > > Aram