The last time this happened Danielle was a baby. 24 years later, Mt St Helens is twitching away, threatening to dust the Puget Sound with ash and other flying rubbish. Or maybe just burp a little hot lava and change the shape of the crater. Either way, it’s all the buzz around here, and everybody’s watching the seismo-maps intently and clutching their Starbucks cups nervously as if this mocha might be their last. It’s really not a dangerous situation (just as it wasn't the last time, 24 years ago) unless you happen to live directly on Mt St Helens (and therefore, by definition, be completely crazy). It’s just very exciting and interesting, and unlike most big events that affect the whole city, is totally out of anyone’s control, which makes it 200% more exciting than, say, a Seahawks game (which, as we all know, has already been carefully pre-determined by the football clubs in order to fill those $$$ seats and line thier pockets). The subsurface quakes are coming every 4 minutes or so now, and have just recently started surpassing Richter mag 3 (there were a couple 3.3’s the last time i checked) so everyone get your canned food stockpiled and be ready for a few unplanned days off work! I think Dad still has a jar in the garage at home, sealed, full of ash from 1980 that landed in Montana. Maybe i'll get to start a jar of my own - better go home and find a jar, too. :)
And hey - guess what? (The last dentist caved and now they're all recommending Trident?) NO! Today is Ann Penner’s birthday - happy birthday Ann! She’s probably reading cases right now for stuffy law professors, when i'm sure she'd rather be at home making “shrimp toast" and drying fruit. Anyway, keep up the hard work Ann, and may none of your parachutes turn out to be knapsacks. ;)