19 May, 2020 - Mt St Helens & The Garden

Dear, Mom -

Hi, Mom. Elsa wants to talk to you on the phone like this dog. I told her I don't think she quite has the vocabulary yet, but we can video chat! That Elsa dog sure loves her grandma.

One of my most favorite memes ever. I don't think I have ever you a meme before. It's kind of like a visual joke, or a funny depiction of something. Basically, it's usually something visual represented that is ironic, describes the scene in a certain way, or...

"A humorous image, video, piece of text, etc. that is copied (often with slight variations) and spread rapidly by Internet users." -Somebody on Reddit :)

I had totally forgot to mention the 40th anniversary of the day that Mt St Helens erupted. I remember where we were! We were at home. I think you and dad probably heard via the television that the mountain had erupted. I don't know if it was a subject in school, because I don't think we had any warning that it was actually going to erupt, just months of earthquakes and venting from the mountain.. We walked outside and the sky was such a peculiar grey. And it seems as though it was snowing, but it wasn't. 

It was volcanic ash meandering down from the Cascade Range in Washington State, a mere 248 miles away! I think we all scooped some of the ash up in little bottles, or whatever we had around. I just remember standing out at the front of our house, next to the Ma Dodd's Decorative Depot sign on the wall of the house, mesmerized by the ash, and talking about what was happening. It was very exciting! We had some of the bottles of ash for years and years after, but I don't know what happened to mine?

When I got home from work today, I started filling up my garden beds with soil. I got one 3'ft x 3'ft  square, cloth, container done. I filled up half of another rectangular, wooden, raised bed with old soil, and started to put a layer of new compost on the top. I got too tired to push around and my more wheelbarrows of dirt and went inside for dinner. Holly had roasted some veggies in the over. Before I went out to work in the yard, I got out the pressure cooker and put in a chicken breast. We had a nice dinner, watched a little television, then I came to type my letter to you.

I need to get up and be at the chiropractor by 10 am for an adjustment. I missed my appointment on Monday due to automobile accidents on the highway to Vancouver. I rescheduled for tomorrow morning, then I'm back home to keep working on my garden sewing and planting. I can't wait to get it done and growing!

I hope to talk to you soon! Much, much love to you, Mom. Big Hug and Big Kiss --- #3, Sally