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Day 220 – The Tillicum Village Spoon

I went to Tillicum Village on Blake Island with my coworkers for our summer team event today, but the gift shop didn’t have a single souvenir spoon. My coworker, saddened by my plight, offered up this basic piece of dining room flatware as a stand-in. 

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Day 138 – The Mount St. Helens Spoon

37 years ago today, Mount St. Helens erupted and forever changed its surrounding landscape. 


This spoon depicts the post-eruption mountain with what might be a Roosevelt elk majestically posing in front. Not sure what the pink stuff is supposed to be, but I’m pretty sure that’s clear blue sky above the mountain. We haven’t seen that in months though, so I can’t be sure. 

I was 12 years old when the mountain erupted. It just so happened that my dad had rented a Cessna 150 for the morning for a trip to see the mountain up close and personal. When he heard the mountain had erupted, he decided to keep the reservation anyway, because what could possibly go wrong? 

Here’s his pilot’s log with the entry from May 18, 1980:


Our flight plan took us from Boeing Field to within 10 miles of Mount St. Helens. I was asleep most of the flight and I remember him waking me up to see the massive black cloud in front of us. Zero visibility, but what an unforgettable experience. 

(It says “10 mile point Mt. St. Helens” in his log. Where was the red zone on that day? Were we IN the red zone?)