Going to the Beach in Washington

Hayden, 7, at Owens Beach, Pt. Defiance, WA. The gray? Rain. Sheets of.

By Angie Quantrell @AngieQuantrell

When in Washington (the state), going to the beach may look different than going to the beach in other locations.

For instance, one may need to wear a winter hat at our beaches.

Hayden, Audrey, and Khloe sporting layers, hats (including winter), and beach tools.

Sweatshirts may be required.

You will get wet. With rain more than salt water.

Barnacles and tiny crabs abound.

Picnics are held under shelter. Or you eat wet food.


Picnics under shelter keep the food dry.

Seagulls will peck open unattended packages and ruin the cookies.

Sand will be discovered in odd and stayed-in-the-van-how-did-sand-get-there places.

You will bring too many things in order to plan for any type of weather.

Gage, 1. The same beach and same age when Hayden first went to the beach.

You will take home more than you bargained for. Some of those things will smell after a day or so.

Laundry and deep cleaning will be necessary once you get home.

He who wanted to throw himself into the water. Or eat sand. It was hands-on-Gage for one adult at all times.

Wet, cold, damp, briny kids smell just like that in the close confines of a van. Wet. Damp. Cold. Briny.

Umbrellas are often in use.

Can you see the little feathery barnacles? The openings are ones that are feeding.

One might wear a camera around the neck, but it will be covered with a plastic grocery bag that is tied tightly to keep out the rain. And sand. And stuff.

Water sandals are the perfect shoe. Waterproof and protective against stones.

Seals will wonder what you are doing. Bald eagles will soar, seagulls will annoy, ferries will pass, squirrels will steal, raccoons will beg, deer will graze.

Looking at wildlife.

Those dead looking rocks with barnacle crusts are not dead. Just put them in a bowl of ocean water and see what happens.

Strangers are kind. They may even bring a new crab specimen and seaweed clump for investigation.

Our barnacle and crab observation project.

On rainy days, you will mostly have the beach to yourself.

You can still get sunburned if it's raining and cold.

If you want to go to the beach, go. Sunny or rainy, windy or stormy, the beach is a wonderful destination. Just know that our beaches will not resemble southern beaches (most of the time). The water will not be warm. Body extremities will turn blue. Noses will run.

But it will be the beach.

The group - minus the photographer who quickly unwrapped the camera for a quick shot.

Layer up, my dears. Or at least plan for a variety of beach weather. This is the life of Washington beaches.

The Day the Mountain Blew

Standing on the top edge of Mt. St. Helens, looking at Mt. Adams

By Angie Quantrell @AngieQuantrell

What were you doing on May 18, 1980?

Maybe you were not even born yet! That does make me feel old, so let's keep that to ourselves.

On that beautiful Sunday morning, so many years ago, I was at church with my family and friends. It was during Sunday school, so the time was early in the day.

Rocks, rocks, rocks!

Murmurs of something going on and the escalation of tension crept throughout the groups of people. We all went outside and saw huge, billowing, black clouds racing our way from the west.

Upon the advice of emergency officials and church leaders, everyone was sent home.
Soon, the entire sky was overtaken by the black gray heavy clouds. Not rain clouds as they appeared, but ash and smoke. Grit started to pour down. It wasn't a gentle ash, but steady and thick.

Mostly we were excited to find out what was happening. I don't remember being afraid at all, just curious. We got to skip out on church, and though we were all advised to stay inside out of the ash, we ventured out several times to check out the weather.

Volcano weather.

At that time, we didn't have immediate access to world events. No one really had computers, just radios and the basic television channels. Phones were all old fashioned and connected to a wall phone jack. Information traveled much slower.

A view of what's left at the top of Mt. St. Helens

One of my weekend jobs was to care for an elderly lady one street over. Mrs. Nelson lived by herself in a big house. She was alone that volcano-y day. I received a call asking that I go over and check on her. I did so, and explained to her what was going on and made sure she had her lunch and the things she needed.

My then future-husband was on his own for the weekend, as his parents were out of town. So he ended up at our house for much of that week. He was normally there, so that was nothing new.

As this was our first volcano eruption, we had no idea what we were in for. School was open as usual Monday morning. We headed to school. I remember trying to use the windshield wipers. Scrape, grit, scrape, grit. Not a good idea.

It was all excitement for the students. A volcano! Ash and grit. LOTS of ash and grit. A volcano ashfall.

The problems became evident soon enough. Students waiting for buses to stop were overwhelmed with clouds of billowing, drifting ash. We couldn't breathe! People started wearing face masks just to be able to be outside. Vehicles were being damaged by the large amounts of ash and grit being inhaled and forced through the internal engines. Others tried to begin the clean up process, only to find there was nowhere to put their mountains of ash.



The girl with the cow shorts heading up Mt. St. Helens

So much ash. Inches fell on every little thing. Daytime looked like nighttime. Headlights had to be used to improve visibility.

After Monday, school was cancelled for the rest of the week in order to give everyone time for cleaning away ash. I'm sure officials were scrambling to figure out what to do with the ash, checking to see how dangerous it was for breathing, and searching to find out what damage was being done to the machines that were out working through the depths of the volcano fallout.

Things slowly returned to as much normal as could be expected. Mt. St. Helens was forever changed. Much of the mountain was spread throughout Washington state and the northwest. The Yakima Valley was in the ash fallout zone, while others on the opposite side of the mountain were hit by pyroclastic flows of steam, ash, mud, melted snow, and raging rivers. Lighter ash was transferred around the world by wind. Farmers washed off or plowed under the layers of ash all over our farmlands. People collected jars and containers of ash as momentos. Creative folks figured out ways to transform the ash into artwork and jewelry. Books were written, studies conducted, interviews given, and research began.

Not everyone survived that day. But for those of us who did, we remember the day the mountain blew.

So much information has been collected, stored, and shared. You can read more about Mt. St. Helens here.



Me and Kevin at the summit of Mt. St. Helens

We have no personal photos of Mt. St. Helens the day it blew. If we did, we probably would not be alive to share them. We did, however, hike to the top of the mountain in 1993. After reading the warnings on paperwork from the ranger station, we seriously considered our health and personal welfare! Watch out for steam vents, thin crust, the edge of the top (where the edge often broke off), the dome in the center of the volcano (we couldn't go there), and tremors. It was and is a live volcano, after all!

I'd love to hear what you were doing on the day the mountain blew.

Ten Things to Do with a Moth

Boys have their own way of thinking, learning, and exploring.

Here are some ways to learn about moths, according to Hayden (6 years-old).


1. Catch a wounded moth. Catch it several times and chase it around the yard. Cup it gently (or not so gently) in your hands.

2. Carry the moth around. In your hand. Squished.

3. Catch a second moth. Hold it by the body part. Ask Nana if it will hurt you.

4. Carry moth around, looking often to see if moth has pooped in your hand (Nana said it won't hurt you, but it might poop on you).

5. Prepare to use a hand mixer to 'mix' the moth and see what happens. Stop when Nana catches you.

6. Do moths swim? Find out by dunking it in the water table. Consider giving it a ride in the toy boat.

7. Do moths fly - as in, from a water hose that you shove it into and crank on the water?

8. Ride on your scooter. Maybe while holding the moth. Oops.

9. Lose interest.

10. What moth?


P.S. We have no photos of any poor moth.

Somebody's Law...The Edge is a Dangerous Place

There is a law, a scientific one, which explains motion. I will look it up shortly, just to give credit where credit is due. And to show that I did learn a thing or two at college (like how to research on the internet or crack open a text book).

Fell off my chair today. The nifty office chair with armrests, a plush seat, and excellently moving wheels. Thanks for the great Christmas gift, my love.

Being vertically challenged, frustrating at times, downright dangerous at others (hence, this moment), I have my office chair at the highest possible setting. In order to see my computer screen correctly and have my arms at the right angle for protection from shoulder/arm/wrist strain, I must have the seat up to the maximum of its height.

That being said, the highest level possible means these short little legs don't quite reach the floor. And to reach the keyboard at all, I have to sit on the edge of the chair.

There. I said it. Short. Can't reach the floor. I will be one of those short grannies you can't see behind the wheel of a car, driving slowly to avoid collisions, barely able to peek over the dashboard. It's because we are too short. Booster seats, anyone?

This could actually be a mathematical problem. Too short of legs + slick chair bottom + smooth wooden floor + well-oiled wheels = a disaster in the making.

I leaped into my chair, unfortunately hitting the edge. Producing the "every action creates an equal and opposite reaction" law of motion.

Bottom slid off the chair, short legs could not get grip on smooth floor - resulting in chair going the opposite direction. Me one way, chair the other.

Considering this law from the floor, checking myself for strained or bruised parts, I was glad that a recording device was ne'er to be found.

After crawling out from under the side table, upon which I put my writing resources, and collecting my chair from across the room, I promised myself to be more cautious when approaching this wild and wooly thing called 'the office chair.'

Whoa, Nellie!

NOTE: Isaac Newton's third law of motion: For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. I had it memorized almost to the word! Let's give a shout out to Western Washington University, where I took many loved science and physics courses. Whoop!