I was sleeping on the morning of Mar 18, 1980, when I was awakened by a large boom and a shaking of the bed. I had no idea what had happened and didn’t know until I switched on the TV later.
Mt St Helens had erupted, 324 miles/523 km away. It destroyed one face of the mountain, took 57 lives, and spread ash as far away as Spokane, WA.
Years later my wife and I, at a meditation retreat twenty or so miles away, decided afterwards to visit the area. I couldn’t believe what I saw.
For miles on the side of the mountain that we drove past, trees were felled, all pointing away from the mountain. All was devastation nearly a decade after the blast.