Monday, May 18, 2009

geology of the heart: those blasted anniversaries




















The holiest of all holidays are those

Kept by ourselves in silence and apart;
The secret anniversaries of the heart.
HENRY WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW






.

16 comments:

Don't Feed The Pixies said...

We probably all need to be reminded from time to time that however big and clever we are nature can still come along and give us a good thumping.

Very powerful images xx

Unknown said...

Amazing video. Amazing doesn't even describe it. I'll have to have HoneyHaired take a look at this--she's talking about majoring in Geology. This is right up her alley:>)
The quote---I'm goung to reallocate it, if you don't mind. Love the thought and so true. Someday when I'm old and evem more demented I won't know the day or the president, but I'll remember my favorite cats'(Jackson & Tillie) birthdays, April 15th.

Darlene said...

There are some anniversaries that you would rather forget. The eruption of Mt. St. Helens is one of those.

The video is really frightening to watch and we all hope it doesn't happen again.

Looking to the Stars said...

Beautiful pic (my sound things not working cant do the video) love the Longfellow saying, it says what my soul says. thanks for posting it. Nature is amazing, so beautiful and yet it has the power to destory at the same time. have a good week, kiddo

Carlos Lorenzo said...

Impressive eruption. The wonders of mother nature. The awe it can instill into our minds. Nice quote too. I enjoyed the sequence of stills and the volutes of smoke. Menacing show I wish I could witness someday.

j said...

I've been out of commission in the blogosphere for a number of days, partially because I've been in a world of dirt & planting and partially because my heart just hasn't been in it. But here I am, taking advantage of a nap on a sick day for G.

I will always remember that old man who lived on the mountain and refused to move. Mount St. Helens erupted when I was ten and that man's story must have made a real impression upon me. (see http://www.seattlepi.com/mountsthelens/hary11.shtml )

Geology of the heart ... it could be applied to all kinds of anniversaries.

Erin Davis said...

So powerful. The quote from Longfellow takes on a somber and awed significance here...

Lydia said...

@Pixies- I absolutely agree these are very powerful images. It was an amazing time to live here in the Pacific Northwest.

@Distracted- I'm thrilled that HoneyHaired will view this and I think a major in Geology is stupendous!
Of course, recycle the quote (isn't it just one of the best?). Where the mountain's eruption had great local, and even worldwide, significance, it has personal significance for me.....which is why the quote was a great find for this post. Jackson and Tillie by all accounts must have been very deserving of your anniversary marker. I do the same for Bleecker and Cirrus, and now Willow. :)

@Darlene- It was an unforgettable episode, most definitely. My big regret is that I didn't move here a few years earlier and maybe have had an opportunity to spend a day (or even camp) on St. Helens when it was the "Snowcone" beauty.

@Looking to the Stars- Sorry you can't view the vid, but you get the main idea from the still shot. I know, that Longfellow quote is astonishing and I'm so glad I came across it while searching for the right one for this post. Hope your week goes well too!

@Carlos- Well, you wouldn't want to be too a witness. People did lose their lives on that mountain that day. Harry Truman, the man that Jennifer mentions in her comments, made the choice to stay on his property with his cats. The others just died, no decision was made (except by fate, I guess).

@Jennifer- Sorry G. is ill, but glad you are getting a day to plunk around in the blogosphere. Thanks for the link, and I'll look tonight. Harry Truman was stubborn and irascible; there was no moving him off "his" mountain. I rarely look at St. Helens (which I can see from my house on a clear day) without thinking about him, so I can see why he made a huge impression on your ten-year-old brain.
Geology of the heart...you really get it! In my case, there absolutely is more than one significance relating to St. Helens' eruption. It didn't end with May 18th, either, as the mountain played a big part in some other anniversaries of my heart. I must write about those later.

Lydia said...

@Erin- Your comment crossed with my responses above--
The Longfellow quote seems to have struck a chord with us all. I love your descriptions for it.

Hattie said...

Kilaua, one of the volcanoes of Hawaii Island, is causing us a lot of problems right now. You inspire me to compose a post about it.
I mostly love living with all this exciting geology going on, but when we get choking vog (volcanic smog) as we've had for the last few days, not so much!

dmarks said...

I was at Mt St Helens several years after the eruption. It was hard to describe; the most fantastic landscape I had ever seen.

Like Mordor several years after the fall of Sauron maybe.

Lydia said...

@Hattie- That is interesting about Kilaua, as I've missed that in the media if it has indeed been discussed there at all. I'll look for your post! Vog is a word that wasn't termed yet, or not used, when St. Helens erupted. But the stuff it describes was very real, and awful. Stay inside and protect your lungs.

@dmarks- Well, I think you described the landscape quite creatively!
I'll post again about St. Helens in my life. I had a private airplane fly my mother and me over it in September 1980 for her birthday. Mike and I climbed it in 1994...awesome! :)

Melinda said...

Hi Lydia--I love that, 'The secret anniversaries of the heart.' I always feel that way about my recovery date--it's a date that is really only special to myself but it is one that I really cherish.

I was visiting Montana when Mt. St. Helens erupted--and it was amazing--everything--even that far away was filled with a light coating of ash. I hadn't thought of that for many years!

Melinda

Lydia said...

@Melinda- I absolutely know what you mean about the specialness of your sobriety date. Mine is the same for me. That's a cool memory you have of the ash coating in Montana. I went camping at the Oregon coast the following weekend and it was eerie. Looking back, probably not that healthy a decision to camp out in the ash! :)

Unknown said...

Keep in mind, this event was on the small side of average, for a north-western North American eruption.

The "pop" that resulted in what we know today as Yellowstone dumped ash clear to the east coast, and changed global climates for a decade or more.

Also keep in mind, that this is a natural "life process" of the earth, and without such natural "disasters" Earth would not have the benefit of a lasting atmosphere.

Interesting side note:
After this eruption, contrary to most scientists beliefs, life returned to mount St Helens almost immediately, and within a few short years the area was well on the way to recovery.

Lydia said...

@Citizen of Earth- Sure, where not the largest eruption, and certainly not a firey one, it was a wonder and brought people who live in the Pacific Northwest to a closer appreciation for the grandeur of the natural life process you mentioned.

I flew right over it (and the small plane nearly crashed inside....another story) four months after the eruption. It was a wasteland. There were some grasses and even animals that returned to the amazement and surprise of most everyone. I was most surprised that Spirit Lake reemerged. Having climbed to the top in 1994 I can tell you that walking on that ash beyond the tree line is one of the most difficult things my body has ever had to push through. Even so, there was a squirrel up there. . .

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