Footle and Grok

The eruption of Mount St. Helens lasted more than just a day.

We celebrate on May 18 because that was the first BIG eruption. It is also when the landslide hollowed out the mountain, and many towns east of the event were covered in inches of ash. However, the volcano continued to erupt for months to come.

In 1980, I lived in Southern California and was in the second grade. I saw the eruption on TV and read about it in my Weekly Reader. I did travel to Washington state with my family a couple of summers later, and we visited Mount St. Helens. However, this eruption did not affect my life.

This was not true for my friend, fellow writer, and co-host of our podcast, All Things Indie. Kyle and his wife, Lorraine, were living in Lewis County, Washington, in May 1980. This area is west of Mount St. Helens. The May 18 eruption was just a neat display from his house, but an eruption a week later covered his town in ash.

He gave me some photos to share, and I am amazed by them. I can’t imagine the mess that he and Lorraine had to clean both inside and out. Ash is very light and coats everything like dirty snow that won’t melt. Plus, the air would have been filled with ultra-fine particles. Masks would not have been optional.

I wasn’t there, so I’m going to share Kyle’s photos without narration. If you want the first-hand story, check out his blog post.

We often see official photos taken by scientists and professional photographers. These are important, but sometimes you can get a better feel for an event by seeing it through the eyes of average citizens.

I have always found the Tunguska Event fascinating.

It is part fact, part mystery, and totally remarkable.

On June 30, 1908, 830 square miles of Siberian forest near the Podkamennaya Tunguska River were flattened, The pictures look like someone dumped a giant-size can of Lincoln Logs. Quakes were felt as far away as Europe and the United States. No one lived in the blast zone, but three people may have died from the shock wave. The explosion was equal to about 30 megatons of energy.

Most scientists think a meteorite caused the Tunguska Event. No crater has been found, and it is possible the outer space object disintegrated in the atmosphere.

However, no meteorites of any size have been found, which is odd. You’d think there would some fallout. This lack of evidence has resulted in many theories explaining the Tunguska Event, and now scientists have a new one.

Perhaps the asteroid did not smash into the Earth’s atmosphere.  Maybe it skimmed off the air like a stone skipping across a pond. How cool is that! My mind boggles when I think of a rock, at least as long as a football field, entering the upper atmosphere, and then skipping off the denser air ten to fifteen miles above the Earth before heading back into space.

Models prove this could be possible, but this new idea is just one of many. Since no one witnessed the event (lucky for them), more research will be needed before one definitive answer can be proved.

But atmosphere skipping asteroids is one of the coolest ideas I’ve heard in a while.

Have you ever heard the Dapper Dans perform at a Disney park?

This barbershop quartet has an amazing sound, but I never plan to see them when I visit the parks, so sometimes I hear them, and sometimes I don’t.

Since the parks are closed, the Dapper Dans have gone virtual. Lucky us.

These recordings make me want to visit the parks (someone get me a plane ticket to Shanghai.) However, the Dapper Dans are also wonderful to listen to time and time again while we are at home.

I have learned one thing during this weird time. The next time I’m in the parks, I’m finding the Dapper Dans’ schedule and seeing their performance. They are too good to miss.

The Happy Birthday Song

When I See an Elephant Fly

Grim, Grinning Ghosts

My Story A Day in May challenge is going strong.

I have really enjoyed writing a short story each day. I follow the day’s prompt more often then I thought I would, although I often tweak the idea that becomes my story. My longest story so far was over 2000 words, and my shortest was 53 words. The one I want to share today came to about 230 words.

The prompt for this story was to have a group of people go on a trip and write it using “we.” That didn’t sound interesting to me. I’ve never written a story in a collective voice, and I thought I was going to choose my own topic. But when I sat down to write, the first line just came to me, and the rest of the story flowed from it. Enjoy!

Again

“We can’t do it.”

Coach looked at us and shook his head. “Again.”

“No,” we insisted. “We’ve tried a dozen times. We’re bruised and filthy. We can’t do it.”

Coach said nothing else. He simply stared at us, disapproving and disbelieving.

“Fine!” We rolled our eyes. “We’ll try again.”

One by one, we stacked our tired and sore teenage bodies, four on the bottom, three above them, two next, and with great effort, one of us on top. We weaved, we tipped – and we straightened. In sheer delight, we raised our arms over our heads and shouted our cheer. Just before the final chant, we toppled over and fell onto the churned-up field.

Discouraged and angry that we had grabbed defeat out of the jaws of victory, we leaned on each other as we sat in the muck, our blue and white workout uniforms dingy and torn.

Coach leaned over us. “Again.”

We wanted to quit. We wanted to rebel. We wanted to cry that it couldn’t be done. But instead, we did it again – and this time, we didn’t fall. This time we didn’t get dirty. This time we held the pyramid until Coach told us to lower ourselves to the ground.

With joy and pride, we hugged and high-fived, all of us ready for an ice-cold soda and a shower.

Coach nodded with approval. “Again.”

We have finished our exploration of seven continents.

Everyone probably learned about these seven continents in elementary school, and they are pretty well established. The running community even had a marathon challenge where elites run seven marathons in seven days on seven continents. Amazing.

I first heard that there might be an eighth continent when the running community changed this challenge. Today it is eight marathons in eight days on eight continents. (The website page was updated, but the website URL didn’t change.) Why did runners think there was another continent?

The eighth contingent, called Zealandia, could be easy to miss since it is 93% underwater. Only New Zealand and New Caledonia are above sea level. However, the submerged section is elevated above the rest of the ocean floor. If the ocean was drained, it would be quite obvious that this landmass is a continent.

The evidence of an eighth continent has been studied since about 2007. Continents are usually made up of lighter (in weight) continental crust, while ocean seafloor is heavier. The rocks that make up the submerged plateau of Zealandia are lighter.

It might take a while before an eighth continent makes it into all the textbooks, but I think it is a great lesson about what a continent is and how we still have a lot to learn about this planet that we live on. For now, I’m going to go for a run.

I am continuing down a geographic rabbit hole.

We’re all mostly stuck at home, so I thought I would go traveling with my blog. Each day this week, I’m going to explore a different continent. There are now eight continents, but I’m going to cover the traditional seven. Perhaps later, I’ll explain why we added another one.

Today we are traveling to the bottom of the world, The continent of Antarctica. Many people run marathons at the South Pole, but that is not on my bucket list.

I’m getting my information from kids-world-travel-guide.com. Let’s explore!

Antarctica Facts:

• The word “Antarctica” comes from the Greek word “Antarktike” which means “The opposite to north”
• Antarctica is the fifth largest continent. It is twice the size of Australia
• Most of the continent is covered in ice with an average depth of 6,000 feet
• Antarctica is the driest continent. It is an icy desert and gets very little rainfall
• It is also the windiest place with wind speeds measured at more than 218 mph
• Antarctica is the least populated continent with no permanent residents. About 1,000 people there in the winter and 10,000 people in the summer work at various research stations
• It is the highest continent with an average elevation of over 9,000 feet above sea level.
• The highest point is Mount Vinson at 16,000 feet
• The lowest point in Antarctica is tricky. It is under the Denman Glacier, 11,500 feet below sea level. That is way lower than the dead sea, but since it is under ice it’s not at the surface
• Antarctica is the coldest continent. Air temperature measured at Vostok Station in 1983 register at -128.6 °F
• The geographic South Pole is 9,100 feet above sea level
• Around 40,00 tourists visit Antarctica every year
• Antarctica contains more than 90% of both the world’s ice and the world’s fresh water

Mount St. Helens erupted 40 years ago today.*

That makes it sound like the mountain went from 0 to 60 on May 18, 1980, which is not true at all. The USGS had measured earthquakes in the area since March of that year, and steam often erupted into the sky

This geologic warning was fortunate for the people who lived near this picturesque place. Most of them evacuated, and although they were anxious to go back to their homes, the evacuation order had not been lifted when the mountain erupted for real**.

At 8:32 on May 18, 1980, a 5.1 earthquake shook Mount St. Helens loose. Moments later, the north side of the mountain collapsed, causing a lateral explosion that released superheated gases and magma. A glowing cloud of gas and debris sped down at nearly supersonic speeds, killing everything out to eight miles. A shockwave knocked trees down for another 19 miles. Trees beyond that still stood but were now lifeless. Nearly 230 square miles were destroyed by the blast force.

But Mount St. Helens wasn’t done. After the lateral blast, a vertical explosion rose more than 12 miles up from the summit. About 540 tons of ash settled over seven states in the next few days.

The third punch came from ice and glaciers. The heat of the eruption melted what remained, and the water mixed with debris. A volcanic mudflow, called a lahar, raced down the mountain at speeds up to 90 mph, destroying and burying everything in its path.

Fifty-seven people died, including some scientists. Entire habitats were destroyed, and human infrastructure was disrupted. Damage costs were estimated at more than a billion dollars. The eruption of Mount St. Helens is considered the worst volcanic event in U.S. history.

And yet, it began to recover almost immediately. Roads were repaired, rivers were revived. Animals began to return to the area as early as the next spring. New growth emerged from the ash.

Forty years later, it is a grand place to visit and learn about our ever-changing planet. There are many active volcanoes in the northwest and around the world. By studying the eruptions of the past, we can prepare for the future.

*OMSI is hosting a virtual event to celebrate the anniversary of the eruption. Click here for details.

**Thanks to the anniversary of the eruption, there are many useful articles online. I like this one from LiveScience.

I am continuing down a geographic rabbit hole.

We’re all mostly stuck at home, so I thought I would go traveling with my blog. Each day this week, I’m going to explore a different continent. There are now eight continents, but I’m going to cover the traditional seven. Perhaps later, I’ll explain why we added another one.

Today we are traveling down under to the Australian continent, my number one place to visit. Besides running a half marathon in Alice Springs (and maybe Uluru,) I want to take a couple months and drive around Australia.

I’m getting my information from kids-world-travel-guide.com. Since the continent and the country are the same, this list might be a little different. Let’s explore!

Australia Facts:

• Australia is the smallest continent and the sixth-largest country  in the world
• Sydney is the most populous city
• The highest point is Mount Kosciuszko at 7,310 feet in the Snowy Mountains in New South Wales
• The lowest point is Kati Thanda-Lake Eyre at 49 feet below sea level in South Australia
• Ayers Rocks (Uluru) is the largest standing rock in the world
• The Great Barrier Reef is the biggest coral reef in the world

Let’s get back to my geographic rabbit hole.

We’re all mostly stuck at home, so I thought I would go traveling with my blog. Each day this week, I’m going to explore a different continent. There are now eight continents, but I’m going to cover the traditional seven. Perhaps later, I’ll explain why we added another one.

Today we are traveling south to Africa, a continent I hope to visit someday. I really want to see Morocco and it would be awesome to explore the pyramids, too.

I’m getting my information from kids-world-travel-guide.com. Let’s explore!

Africa Facts:

• There are 54 countries in Africa and it has 15% of the world’s population
• The largest country by area is Algeria. Nigeria is the largest by population with 185 million people but is only one third the size of Algeria
• The smallest country on the Africa continent is Seychelles, an archipelago off the coast of Africa in the Indian Ocean. The smallest mainland country is The Gambia
• The largest city is Lagos in Nigeria with more than 21 million people
• The biggest island is Madagascar in the Indian Ocean
• The highest point on the African continent is Mt. Kilimanjaro in Tanzania at 19,340 feet
• The lowest point is Lake Assal in Djibouti at 509 feet below sea level
• Lake Victoria is the biggest lake in Africa. It borders Uganda, Tanzania, and Kenya
• There are sixteen landlocked countries in Africa

I’m taking a break from geography to tell you about a new book.

My short story, “A New Home for Lulu,” about a small, colorful, timid dragon (created by my friend, Lily Muller) is being published in a new anthology, Den of Dragons. Like all the anthologies put out by Crimson Cloak, the proceeds from this book go to charity. To get the word out, they sent me some advanced reader copies (ARCs) to share with my readers.

If you would like to read my story, and a lot of other great dragon short stories, leave a comment below or send me an email, and I’ll email you an ARC. Let me know if you want it in .mobi, epub, or PDF format. Reviews are always welcome.