Conversation at dinner: Marian was talking about when they first bought their house in the Seattle area.
She stepped outside one evening and encountered a neighbor standing by his curb staring to the southeast. Had she heard? Had she seen this?
Heard what?
Uh, about Mt. St. Helens? You know, the volcano?
The what?! So Marian looked over thataway and you could see the plume in the distance. Whoa. She’d had no idea there was anything other than Mt Rainier, which she could see, anywhere nearby. There was a fine layer of ash on everything the next morning.
Richard buried his head in his hands in mock dismay over his dinner, teasing us: “One sister who can’t hear the fire alarm” (no hearing aids in, the building being evacuated, and me totally oblivious on the day he was referring to) “and one sister who doesn’t know there’s a volcano in the neighborhood,” shaking his head.
I guess she hadn’t heard hers go off either.
Sisters. Whaddyagonnado.