Vehicle maintenance: Following a thorough dusting of volcanic ash, Barbara Greer Richards cleans off the family car at 2607 W. Dean Ave.

Ash cloud cover: A friend of Betty Ehr took this photo from the rest area between Lewiston and Othello on May 18, 1980.

Aftermath: Ron Cauvel points out the height of the mud flow near Toutle Lake, Wash.

The climactic moment: Mount St. Helens reaches critical mass and erupts.

Boys will be boys: Nicholas Schuerman, 2, is allowed to play outside in Mead after the eruption but only when wearing a mask. “The kids were so desperate to play outside, so we relented,” wrote his mother, Jan Schuerman.

Here comes the ash: Terry Flume, center, and Vicki Flume, not pictured, were married in Spokane six days after Mount St. Helens blew. The groom’s party took officials’ warnings as inspiration for a posed photo.

In memory: Geology graduate student Jim Fitzgerald was on a mountain six miles from Mount St. Helens when the volcano erupted. He was killed in the blast, and his Datsun was discovered five days later.

Few takers: “The picture is of my husband Leroy, who had a great sense of humor and put the sign on our front gate on the South Hill,” writes Joyce Deitz, of Spokane.

Surprise, Honey. “Mount St. Helens blew one day before our first wedding anniversary. My wife said I didn’t have to do anything that big ever again for our anniversary,” writes Sam Richart.

Even the dogs were wearing masks in Farmington, Wash., after the dust arrived.

Garden variety: Howard Fleenor tries to clean up ash on his Latah Valley property May, 20 1980.