My parents bought their property in ’73 and began building out here. They planted a peach orchard and we had chickens, goats, and a garden. Mom and Dad kept ledgers of their activity and the weather. I dug some up and thought I’d share with you some of their entries.
We were flat stick into our farming. My goats had triplets, we were gardening like we were stockpiling for the end-times, and Mt. St. Helens rumbled in the distance.
We named one goat kid “Noky”, short for “no keep ’em”. Self-explanatory, yes?
Sunday, May 18th.
“Mt. St. Helens erupted at 8:32 this morning. At 12:15 rattlesnake mt. is not visible from house. sky is black to the north. the night lites are on north of Benton City. Volcanic ash fell for about an hour — the kids collected about a quart. took pictures of clouds.”
(Apparently my parents had zero fear that the stuff might be toxic. Meanwhile the rest of the world was hunkered down and warned not to handle the ash.)
Friday, May 23rd.
“What appears to be fog is volcanic ash. Some pictures taken.”
Saturday, May 24th.
“Still more of the stuff — no accumulation but it is present.”
Sunday, May 25
“St. Helens blew again — 2 times last night. wind blew ash west, affecting Portland. This morning was clear. This afternoon wind is from SW. Visibility less than 1 mile. White dust blowing.”
It was a tough year.
Saturday, June 21
“Saw about 6 pheasant today. Finished mowing orchard and mowed fire break around the place. Garden is in terrible shape — weeds, weeds. We just have not had time to do all the chores. I’ve had to work some weekends lately and some long hours. Unable to get time off from work though I have approx. 34 days vacation coming. Grasshoppers are bad this year.”
Wednesday, August 27th.
“think we started picking this day. things got hectic.”
