This is the view from our front porch in Kelso, Washington in May 1980. The smoke cloud is from the eruption of Mt. St. Helens, which eventually covered our town in inches of volcanic ash and forced our evacuation (due to threats of flooding). We got to stay at a Red Cross shelter set up in a local high school and I loved it, and even got interviewed for a local news show. Great fun. Apparently my mother didn't love it quite so much, and we soon moved back to Michigan.

1980