Mount St. Helens erupted in a chaotic flurry of smoke, lava and ash 35 years ago this week. It was an epic meltdown the likes of which have been equaled by UW football times over.
I was seven years old on that faithful day. Old enough to know that somewhere close to me, lives were being lost and unthinkable damage was being exacted. Young enough to not fully grasp the tragedy of the situation or to anticipate the symbolic metaphors that could one day be drawn between the greatest natural disaster ever to strike the Pacific Northwest and the greatest calamities to ever befall our beloved UW football program.