Nearly thirty years ago I experienced a major volcano exploding in my “backyard” but I have to say that the recent eruptions in Iceland make Mt. St. Helens look like a high school science experiment. This photo was taken by a local farmer shortly after Eyjafjoll’s most recent eruption. As a photographer I can only imagine capturing something this dramatic on film.

Eyjafjoll’s ash is making its way around the world and tying up airports all over Europe. I’m glad I’m not flying through London today. The ash from Mt. St. Helens traveled great distances too with a good portion of it landing on my house and neighborhood. It looked like grey snow when it fell on that mid-May day.

Of course as budding little entrepreneurs my brother and I opened up an “ash” stand to sell, much like lemonade, something that everyone already had plenty of. That fact was, of course, lost on us. We had plenty of something cool so why not sell it.

Needless to say we ended up with a few too many jars of the stuff in our garage. I wish I could say we still have a few jars left, but over the years it got pulled out and examined and played with and little by little we lost nearly all of it. Ahh, but to have experienced an active volcano was something I’ll never forget. Though it’s a little early – here’s to the 30th anniversary of Mt. St. Helens most dramatic eruption.

Image courtesy: msnbc.com and zuma press