Tomorrow is May 18, a day that every year when it rolls around gives me pause to think and remember what happened long ago. It will be the fortieth anniversary of the eruption of Mount St. Helens. The mountain exploded high up into Earth’s atmosphere and affected people all over the world. I lived a mere three hundred miles east of the volcano, in Spokane Washington. It was quite a memorable day for me, as this natural disaster affected every person in our city.
The short story I am about to share with you has parallels to what the world is going through today. I am writing this in May of 2020, at the height of the Coronavirus pandemic, referred to as COVID-19. The world is dealing with this unprecedented time of trouble, and it seems there is no end in sight. Well I am here to say that yes there will be an end in sight, we just have to continue weathering the storm and it will eventually come. Just like the disaster that was Mount St. Helens. Speaking for the people who were affected by the volcano, it did have parallels to what is occurring today. Maybe not to the extent or length, but we faced some similar challenges.
I hope you enjoy this short story. I wrote it fourteen years after the mountain exploded and am happy to share it here. And now, A Blizzard of Ash.
We made camp on the shore of a lake, high in the Cascade mountain range in western Washington state. It was beautiful there, with evergreens reflecting off of the calm surface of the lake. The tall trees swayed gently back and forth, waving at the clouds as they floated by. All around us was the smell of pine and the clean mountain air. Birds sang pleasant songs and squirrels shuffled up and down trees, keeping a wary eye on our every move. After making camp, my dad and I got our fishing gear and set out to ‘drown some worms.’ It didn’t take long to catch our limit, returning to camp with twelve nice-sized lake trout. We ate heartily that night, debating over who caught the largest fish of the day. My family stayed there for two more days, hiking and fishing and relaxing in the beauty of the wilderness. It was certainly a memorable vacation for us.
Less than a year later the lake, trees, birds and squirrels all ceased to exist. The lake sat at the base of Mount St. Helens, site of one of the most powerful and devastating volcanoes to erupt in our century. The volcano came to life in March of 1980, capturing the world’s attention with its many puffs of smoke and ash. Most people in the area were evacuated, except for a few who wouldn’t leave. For several weeks it was a popular story, something fresh and entertaining in the news for a change. May 18th was when the volcano got down to some serious business.
The eruption occurred in the morning, taking the top third of the mountain and blowing it twelve miles straight up. The shock wave of the explosion screamed through the forest, knocking down evergreens like drinking straws. They all laid in the same direction, stripped clean of their foliage. Mudslides and rockslides obliterated everything in their paths. Lakes suddenly disappeared, replaced by mud, rocks and splintered trees. All wildlife in the local area was snuffed out, either from the shock wave or from the unbreathable dirt and ash that filled the air. Fifty-seven people lost their lives in the blast. But this volcano didn’t lay waste to just the local area. Its ash sailed into the prevailing winds headed east.
The ash from Mount St. Helens eventually circled the globe, but most of it landed within five hundred miles of the blast. I lived in Spokane, three hundred miles east of the volcano. Not thinking that the eruption could affect me, I started off for work that afternoon. Looking at the horizon, I saw a dark, ominous cloud descending upon the city. It hovered overhead, blocking out the sun and darkening the city enough to turn the street lights on. The ash was bathed in the orange glow of the street lights as it gently snowed to the ground. The darkness made for an eerie feeling, since it was only three o’clock in the afternoon! A blizzard of ash fell that day, covering the city like a dirty blanket with over an inch of the gritty powder.
The next day the fire department issued surgical masks to everyone in the city, and we began the immense task of cleaning up. Armed with masks, brooms and garden hoses, everyone swept and washed the grit away. It was a difficult job since the ash would turn into a heavy sludge when wetted down. We all worked together for several days, finally clearing the city of the intruding ash. Months later, there were still reminders of that day. Patches of stubborn ash lingered near highways, and surgical masks hung from rear view mirrors in cars all over town.
If you follow my blog or have read my books, you know that I enjoy writing about leadership through storytelling. Leadership experiences can be gleaned from almost any memory or personal story, and this one is no different. How can this story pertain to leadership, you say? Before I answer this, I want to mention that in addition to a message about leadership, it also contains similarities or parallels to what is happening today with the Coronavirus pandemic. Did you notice the similarities from my story to today’s COVID-19 troubles?
First, the similarities. When Mount St. Helens rained ash on our city, nearly everything came to a standstill. All over the city as well as the state, people had to hunker down and wait it out, wondering if it would get worse with another eruption or dissipate quickly. Additionally, whenever people would venture outside, the ash would billow up so badly around traffic that visibility would decrease to near zero. This in itself tended to cause businesses to close down and make people stay home (albeit only for a few days). As I mentioned in the story, Spokane had about an inch of the dirty ash fall onto the city. But Ritzville Washington, which is only sixty miles southwest of Spokane, endured more than six inches of ash. They had it extremely tough in that area of the state. Finally, the most obvious parallel to COVID-19 is that everyone began wearing face masks every time they went outside. Now for the leadership angle.
The leadership angle of my story goes hand in hand with how people back in 1980 were handling their crisis in eastern Washington, similarly with how people all over the world are handling the Coronavirus pandemic today. After the eruption, people stepped up, pitched in together, and led the way to the cleansing of the city (and state). Today, people everywhere are stepping up and doing what is necessary to keep their families safe from the virus. They are pitching in together to help others, including total strangers, in need. A quick look at the news or social media and you’ll see the stories of the doctors and nurses worldwide endanger their own personal health to help those who need to be treated. These are examples of leadership. But there’s more to it.
People pitching in together requires someone to lead the charge. It doesn’t just happen organically. Someone has to make the call, pitch the idea, make the sacrifice, or simply say, “Let’s go!” This trouble we find ourselves in today has had an effect of bringing people together (although ‘socially distanced’) in a common effort to combat and defeat the virus. Remember this definition of leadership:
Leaders influence people to want to work together toward a common goal.
Leaders influence people to want to work toward a common goal. Sounds about right for this situation as well as the one after Mount St. Helens. Leadership thrives in a crisis. Sometimes we simply don’t recognize it though. But when a crisis occurs, leaders come out of the woodwork. Sometimes, people who don’t even realize they are capable of being a leader start to blossom under the stress of a crisis. They end up making a huge difference in their work and life, as well as that of the people around them. So, here’s something to think about with respect to the COVID-19 crisis.
As leaders, we have to lead ourselves first. This is a common statement in leadership, but in a crisis situation we have to really think about it. How can we lead our family or our coworkers through danger or extenuating circumstances that are often included in a crisis situation? We have to be ready to do this, as leaders, so it is imperative that we create the mindset in ourselves to be prepared to step up to the plate and lead. They look up to us, so we owe it to them to be ready to lead. This is the gist of leading ourselves first. Be ready, physically and mentally, to be there for them.
I am viewing this current crisis as if I were swimming under water in an Olympic sized pool. I can see the stripe on the bottom of the pool. My lungs are burning, aching, ready to take a breath. But I can’t come up for air just yet, as I still have a long way to go. I must keep going, mentally, for myself, my coworkers, and my family. The crisis is in full swing here on May 18, 2020. But many states are beginning to get back to work, stores are reopening, and athletes are stretching their muscles. I can see the stripe at the end of the pool! Soon I can come up for breath, but I must stay underwater for now and continue to swim forward, toward that goal that I can now see. Soon, very soon, surgical masks will be hung from rear view mirrors all over the world.
Photo credits: Mike Doukas–the eruption, Murray Buckley–the map, Harry Glicken–the ‘before’ picture. All in the public domain.
