Happy Eruption Day, Mt. Saint Helens

Today marks the 31st anniversary of when Mt. St. Helens rocked the world (or at least a small portion of it) with its fantastic eruption.  As Wikipedia tells it:

An earthquake at 8:32:17 a.m. PDT (UTC−7) on Sunday, May 18, 1980, caused the entire weakened north face to slide away, suddenly exposing the partly molten, gas- and steam-rich rock in the volcano to lower pressure. The rock responded by exploding a hot mix of lava and pulverized older rock toward Spirit Lake so fast that it overtook the avalanching north face.
An eruption column rose 80,000 feet (24,400 m) into the atmosphere and deposited ash in 11 U.S. states...

And, because I TRULY know how to make an entrance, today also marks 31 years for me on this Earth.  My dad told me once that after I was born, he had gone out to his car, and there was ash on it from the explosion.  They -my parents- should have seen it as an omen- a sign, if you will- of things to come.

I know I've never been easy.  According to Wikipedia, "The eruption was preceded by a two-month series of earthquakes and steam-venting episodes".  It was longer than 2 months, but I caused a few of my own earthquakes and steam-venting episodes through-out my teenage years.  So, maybe that volcano and I have more in common than most realize.  It had warning pains before it erupted; I caused them after. 

If you look at it, now, the difference in pictures is astounding.  Life in Washington went into rebuilding mode, but there will always be evidence of that awesome/horrible day in history- a flat-top; a hill leading to a crater.

I can only hope that my life leaves an impact on others like Mt. St. Helens did.  I'm not saying that I hope I leave destruction in my path- I did enough of that in high school.  I just hope that, though people might walk away from me and go on living their lives, I leave an indelible mark on their lives; that I touch their lives in a way that, years later, other people can see the signature showing that I've been there.

So, Happy Eruption day, Mt. St. Helens (and mom!).  Thanks for helping me mark my entrance.