She's a bad mamajama

Mother Nature is on a bit of a tear here in lovely Washington state. It's her perogative, I know, I'm not criticizing. Just reporting out to those of you who might not pay attention to our obscure corner of the world.

First of all, Mt. St. Helens put up one of its more spectacular shows last Friday. The lovely Helen - whose decimated slops I have climbed twice, trudging up a 1,000-foot ash dune to stand with my toes at the lip of the crater and gaze into the gaping maw - had been largely quiet for over 20 years until last October, when she began spouting off and expanding her glowing lava dome. On Friday, according to the US Geological survey:

A small explosive event at Mount St. Helens volcano began at approximately 5:25 p.m. PST. Pilot reports indicate that the resulting steam-and-ash plume reached an altitude of about 36,000 feet above sea level within a few minutes and drifted downwind to the east-northeast.

Meanwhile, we've had an unseasonably dry and sunny winter here - clear as a bell and temperatures in the sixties for weeks now. In most places, this would bring great cheer, but it bodes ill here. We need all that famous rain, and the snow it creates in the mountains, to ensure adequate water through the summer. This was a revelation to me when I arrived in the summer of 1992, the last time Washington experienced a drought. There was water rationing, and the city gave low-flow showerheads to every household, and I just assumed it was always like that - you know, it's the west, they have water problems here. But no, in most years, the relentless precipitation lasts from October 8 to July 4, which keeps us stocked with water through the most glorious, temperate, sunny summer you can possibly imagine, from July 5 to October 7.

This year, the ski resorts couldn't stay open for lack of snow. And now our governor has declared a drought emergency - with only 20 to 50 percent of normal water flows in critical watersheds, and only 26 percent of normal snowpack in the mountains. So, Mr. Flora and I will not have a vegetable garden this year, and I will forgo the lovely flower baskets around my patio. I'll try to take shorter showers, I really will. But we'll have it easy compared to the world-famous salmon, who depend on water in the rivers in order to survive and spawn. Salmon are low in the pecking order when it comes to water rights, unfortunately.

So I'm not complaining. At least, not about Mother Nature - she knows what she's doing. If her creation is under undue stress because of the careless way we humans live our lives and use her bounty - well, that's not her fault now, is it? And as my mama the biologist says - Mother Nature always wins, eventually. It's folly to think she won't. Just look at those pictures of St. Helens if you have any doubts.