KUOW Presents

Seattle’s Tudor Choir is a 20 year-old institution founded by a University of Washington student with a passion for music and history. During his years at the University of Washington, Tudor Choir founder and artistic director Doug Fullington put together a group of fellow students to sing English Renaissance music associated with the Tudor Monarchy of the 15th and 16th centuries.Doug also found an outlet for performing English choral music as a member of the Compline Choir at Seattle’s St. Mark’s Cathedral. In 1993 Doug called on his fellow choral enthusiasts from St. Mark's and the UW and created a professional ensemble. He christened it the Tudor Choir. This season the choir celebrates its 20th season of acclaimed performances and recordings.Doug Fullington says the reflective mood, rich harmonies and soaring melodies of English choral music – often written for the church – have an appeal that transcends religious and cultural boundaries. Doug says, "There’s a great profundity to this music, even if you’re not completely aware of what the text might be, or even if it doesn’t suit the beliefs that you’ve chosen. The music creates a wonderfully contemplative and expressive atmosphere that speaks to so many people."Over the years the Tudor Choir has expanded its repertory from early English music to choral sounds associated with colonial America. Shape-note singing is a raucous style of community singing associated with congregations in New England and the Southern United States in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Doug Fullington and the Tudor Choir gradually added this music to their repertory over the course of the Tudor Choir's 20-year history. The choir recorded shape-note music and sang it on a 1995 national radio broadcast of A Prairie Home Companion. Doug says the independent vocal lines of shape-note singing provide good training for his singers. The challenges of American shape-note singing can be applied in tackling the complexities of Renaissance music."The shape-note music is characterized by a great independence of the four vocal parts. Each part competes to out sing the other parts. That was the style. And for us as a choir it was wonderfully instrumental in helping us develop a lot of vocal independence as individual singers. It in turn really influenced how we approached the Renaissance music."Doug Fullington is a Renaissance man with a keen ear for Renaissance music. When he put together the Tudor Choir in 1993 he was working on his law degree from the University of Washington. But law never became Doug’s profession. Outside of UW Law School, Doug’s passions included not only historical English choral music, but the history of Russian classical ballet as well. Along with his work as artistic director of the Tudor Choir, Doug went on to a career as a professional dance historian and arts administrator for Pacific Northwest Ballet in Seattle.The Tudor Choir celebrates its 20th anniversary with a series of concerts this season at Seattle’s Blessed Sacrament Church in the University District.Watch a YouTube performance of "Spem In Alium" by Thomas Tallis with the Taverner Choirhttp://youtu.be/7Cn7ZW8ts3Y

Seattle’s Tudor Choir is a 20 year-old institution founded by a University of Washington student with a passion for music and history. During his years at the University of Washington, Tudor Choir founder and artistic director Doug Fullington put together a group of fellow students to sing English Renaissance music associated with the Tudor Monarchy of the 15th and 16th centuries.Doug also found an outlet for performing English choral music as a member of the Compline Choir at Seattle’s St. Mark’s Cathedral. In 1993 Doug called on his fellow choral enthusiasts from St. Mark's and the UW and created a professional ensemble. He christened it the Tudor Choir. This season the choir celebrates its 20th season of acclaimed performances and recordings.Doug Fullington says the reflective mood, rich harmonies and soaring melodies of English choral music – often written for the church – have an appeal that transcends religious and cultural boundaries. Doug says, "There’s a great profundity to this music, even if you’re not completely aware of what the text might be, or even if it doesn’t suit the beliefs that you’ve chosen. The music creates a wonderfully contemplative and expressive atmosphere that speaks to so many people."Over the years the Tudor Choir has expanded its repertory from early English music to choral sounds associated with colonial America. Shape-note singing is a raucous style of community singing associated with congregations in New England and the Southern United States in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Doug Fullington and the Tudor Choir gradually added this music to their repertory over the course of the Tudor Choir's 20-year history. The choir recorded shape-note music and sang it on a 1995 national radio broadcast of A Prairie Home Companion. Doug says the independent vocal lines of shape-note singing provide good training for his singers. The challenges of American shape-note singing can be applied in tackling the complexities of Renaissance music."The shape-note music is characterized by a great independence of the four vocal parts. Each part competes to out sing the other parts. That was the style. And for us as a choir it was wonderfully instrumental in helping us develop a lot of vocal independence as individual singers. It in turn really influenced how we approached the Renaissance music."Doug Fullington is a Renaissance man with a keen ear for Renaissance music. When he put together the Tudor Choir in 1993 he was working on his law degree from the University of Washington. But law never became Doug’s profession. Outside of UW Law School, Doug’s passions included not only historical English choral music, but the history of Russian classical ballet as well. Along with his work as artistic director of the Tudor Choir, Doug went on to a career as a professional dance historian and arts administrator for Pacific Northwest Ballet in Seattle.The Tudor Choir celebrates its 20th anniversary with a series of concerts this season at Seattle’s Blessed Sacrament Church in the University District.Watch a YouTube performance of "Spem In Alium" by Thomas Tallis with the Taverner Choirhttp://youtu.be/7Cn7ZW8ts3Y

Seattle’s Tudor Choir is a 20 year-old institution founded by a University of Washington student with a passion for music and history. During his years at the University of Washington, Tudor Choir founder and artistic director Doug Fullington put together a group of fellow students to sing English Renaissance music associated with the Tudor Monarchy of the 15th and 16th centuries.Doug also found an outlet for performing English choral music as a member of the Compline Choir at Seattle’s St. Mark’s Cathedral. In 1993 Doug called on his fellow choral enthusiasts from St. Mark's and the UW and created a professional ensemble. He christened it the Tudor Choir. This season the choir celebrates its 20th season of acclaimed performances and recordings.Doug Fullington says the reflective mood, rich harmonies and soaring melodies of English choral music – often written for the church – have an appeal that transcends religious and cultural boundaries. Doug says, "There’s a great profundity to this music, even if you’re not completely aware of what the text might be, or even if it doesn’t suit the beliefs that you’ve chosen. The music creates a wonderfully contemplative and expressive atmosphere that speaks to so many people."Over the years the Tudor Choir has expanded its repertory from early English music to choral sounds associated with colonial America. Shape-note singing is a raucous style of community singing associated with congregations in New England and the Southern United States in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Doug Fullington and the Tudor Choir gradually added this music to their repertory over the course of the Tudor Choir's 20-year history. The choir recorded shape-note music and sang it on a 1995 national radio broadcast of A Prairie Home Companion. Doug says the independent vocal lines of shape-note singing provide good training for his singers. The challenges of American shape-note singing can be applied in tackling the complexities of Renaissance music."The shape-note music is characterized by a great independence of the four vocal parts. Each part competes to out sing the other parts. That was the style. And for us as a choir it was wonderfully instrumental in helping us develop a lot of vocal independence as individual singers. It in turn really influenced how we approached the Renaissance music."Doug Fullington is a Renaissance man with a keen ear for Renaissance music. When he put together the Tudor Choir in 1993 he was working on his law degree from the University of Washington. But law never became Doug’s profession. Outside of UW Law School, Doug’s passions included not only historical English choral music, but the history of Russian classical ballet as well. Along with his work as artistic director of the Tudor Choir, Doug went on to a career as a professional dance historian and arts administrator for Pacific Northwest Ballet in Seattle.The Tudor Choir celebrates its 20th anniversary with a series of concerts this season at Seattle’s Blessed Sacrament Church in the University District.Watch a YouTube performance of "Spem In Alium" by Thomas Tallis with the Taverner Choirhttp://youtu.be/7Cn7ZW8ts3Y

Seattle’s Tudor Choir is a 20 year-old institution founded by a University of Washington student with a passion for music and history. During his years at the University of Washington, Tudor Choir founder and artistic director Doug Fullington put together a group of fellow students to sing English Renaissance music associated with the Tudor Monarchy of the 15th and 16th centuries.Doug also found an outlet for performing English choral music as a member of the Compline Choir at Seattle’s St. Mark’s Cathedral. In 1993 Doug called on his fellow choral enthusiasts from St. Mark's and the UW and created a professional ensemble. He christened it the Tudor Choir. This season the choir celebrates its 20th season of acclaimed performances and recordings.Doug Fullington says the reflective mood, rich harmonies and soaring melodies of English choral music – often written for the church – have an appeal that transcends religious and cultural boundaries. Doug says, "There’s a great profundity to this music, even if you’re not completely aware of what the text might be, or even if it doesn’t suit the beliefs that you’ve chosen. The music creates a wonderfully contemplative and expressive atmosphere that speaks to so many people."Over the years the Tudor Choir has expanded its repertory from early English music to choral sounds associated with colonial America. Shape-note singing is a raucous style of community singing associated with congregations in New England and the Southern United States in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Doug Fullington and the Tudor Choir gradually added this music to their repertory over the course of the Tudor Choir's 20-year history. The choir recorded shape-note music and sang it on a 1995 national radio broadcast of A Prairie Home Companion. Doug says the independent vocal lines of shape-note singing provide good training for his singers. The challenges of American shape-note singing can be applied in tackling the complexities of Renaissance music."The shape-note music is characterized by a great independence of the four vocal parts. Each part competes to out sing the other parts. That was the style. And for us as a choir it was wonderfully instrumental in helping us develop a lot of vocal independence as individual singers. It in turn really influenced how we approached the Renaissance music."Doug Fullington is a Renaissance man with a keen ear for Renaissance music. When he put together the Tudor Choir in 1993 he was working on his law degree from the University of Washington. But law never became Doug’s profession. Outside of UW Law School, Doug’s passions included not only historical English choral music, but the history of Russian classical ballet as well. Along with his work as artistic director of the Tudor Choir, Doug went on to a career as a professional dance historian and arts administrator for Pacific Northwest Ballet in Seattle.The Tudor Choir celebrates its 20th anniversary with a series of concerts this season at Seattle’s Blessed Sacrament Church in the University District.Watch a YouTube performance of "Spem In Alium" by Thomas Tallis with the Taverner Choirhttp://youtu.be/7Cn7ZW8ts3Y

Seattle travel writer Crai Bower first came across Mount St. Helens when he was doing a census of the spotted owl population for the Washington State Department of Natural Resources in 1990. Crai was stunned by the vision of Mount St. Helens, which so famously and destructively erupted in 1980. Crai remembers seeing the mountain as he walked down a forest service road:All of a sudden there it was. It was breathing and brooding as the gases were escaping. It was supposedly dormant. Or was it? And then as I was looking at the deep crater, all the earth science that I’d loathed studying in middle school came flowing back, like lava. I suddenly got geology, right there!Pacific Northwest residents often talk about their desire to visit iconic places in our region like Mount St. Helens. But they often avoid those destinations because of crowds. Crai Bower says you don’t want to put off a visit to such a spectacular site too long. And now that the summer crowds are gone, Crai recommends fall as a great time to visit Mount St. Helens. He says the drive up the mountain features stunning views of the destruction in the aftermath of the eruption. There are acres of downed trees blown over by the force of the eruption. There is dramatic evidence all around of the path taken by tons of earth and mud in the immediate aftermath of the 1980 explosion.Before he moved to the Washington state to attend The Evergreen State College in Olympia, Crai didn’t know much at all about St. Helens’ volcanic and geologic history:Years ago my familiarity with Mount St. Helens had to do mostly with knowing that the Grateful Dead broke into "Fire on the Mountain" immediately when they heard the volcano had erupted.Grateful Dead performs "Fire on the Mountain"http://youtu.be/kvUyyhRQhd8But now when Crai flies back home to Seattle from his many travels as a travel correspondent, he always makes sure to look out the airplane window in search of the distinctive mountain whose side was blown away in a powerful eruption. When Crai fixes his glance on Mount St. Helens, standing uniquely among many impressive northwest peaks, he knows he has arrived back home.

Seattle travel writer Crai Bower first came across Mount St. Helens when he was doing a census of the spotted owl population for the Washington State Department of Natural Resources in 1990. Crai was stunned by the vision of Mount St. Helens, which so famously and destructively erupted in 1980. Crai remembers seeing the mountain as he walked down a forest service road:All of a sudden there it was. It was breathing and brooding as the gases were escaping. It was supposedly dormant. Or was it? And then as I was looking at the deep crater, all the earth science that I’d loathed studying in middle school came flowing back, like lava. I suddenly got geology, right there!Pacific Northwest residents often talk about their desire to visit iconic places in our region like Mount St. Helens. But they often avoid those destinations because of crowds. Crai Bower says you don’t want to put off a visit to such a spectacular site too long. And now that the summer crowds are gone, Crai recommends fall as a great time to visit Mount St. Helens. He says the drive up the mountain features stunning views of the destruction in the aftermath of the eruption. There are acres of downed trees blown over by the force of the eruption. There is dramatic evidence all around of the path taken by tons of earth and mud in the immediate aftermath of the 1980 explosion.Before he moved to the Washington state to attend The Evergreen State College in Olympia, Crai didn’t know much at all about St. Helens’ volcanic and geologic history:Years ago my familiarity with Mount St. Helens had to do mostly with knowing that the Grateful Dead broke into "Fire on the Mountain" immediately when they heard the volcano had erupted.Grateful Dead performs "Fire on the Mountain"http://youtu.be/kvUyyhRQhd8But now when Crai flies back home to Seattle from his many travels as a travel correspondent, he always makes sure to look out the airplane window in search of the distinctive mountain whose side was blown away in a powerful eruption. When Crai fixes his glance on Mount St. Helens, standing uniquely among many impressive northwest peaks, he knows he has arrived back home.

Seattle travel writer Crai Bower first came across Mount St. Helens when he was doing a census of the spotted owl population for the Washington State Department of Natural Resources in 1990. Crai was stunned by the vision of Mount St. Helens, which so famously and destructively erupted in 1980. Crai remembers seeing the mountain as he walked down a forest service road:All of a sudden there it was. It was breathing and brooding as the gases were escaping. It was supposedly dormant. Or was it? And then as I was looking at the deep crater, all the earth science that I’d loathed studying in middle school came flowing back, like lava. I suddenly got geology, right there!Pacific Northwest residents often talk about their desire to visit iconic places in our region like Mount St. Helens. But they often avoid those destinations because of crowds. Crai Bower says you don’t want to put off a visit to such a spectacular site too long. And now that the summer crowds are gone, Crai recommends fall as a great time to visit Mount St. Helens. He says the drive up the mountain features stunning views of the destruction in the aftermath of the eruption. There are acres of downed trees blown over by the force of the eruption. There is dramatic evidence all around of the path taken by tons of earth and mud in the immediate aftermath of the 1980 explosion.Before he moved to the Washington state to attend The Evergreen State College in Olympia, Crai didn’t know much at all about St. Helens’ volcanic and geologic history:Years ago my familiarity with Mount St. Helens had to do mostly with knowing that the Grateful Dead broke into "Fire on the Mountain" immediately when they heard the volcano had erupted.Grateful Dead performs "Fire on the Mountain"http://youtu.be/kvUyyhRQhd8But now when Crai flies back home to Seattle from his many travels as a travel correspondent, he always makes sure to look out the airplane window in search of the distinctive mountain whose side was blown away in a powerful eruption. When Crai fixes his glance on Mount St. Helens, standing uniquely among many impressive northwest peaks, he knows he has arrived back home.

Seattle travel writer Crai Bower first came across Mount St. Helens when he was doing a census of the spotted owl population for the Washington State Department of Natural Resources in 1990. Crai was stunned by the vision of Mount St. Helens, which so famously and destructively erupted in 1980. Crai remembers seeing the mountain as he walked down a forest service road:All of a sudden there it was. It was breathing and brooding as the gases were escaping. It was supposedly dormant. Or was it? And then as I was looking at the deep crater, all the earth science that I’d loathed studying in middle school came flowing back, like lava. I suddenly got geology, right there!Pacific Northwest residents often talk about their desire to visit iconic places in our region like Mount St. Helens. But they often avoid those destinations because of crowds. Crai Bower says you don’t want to put off a visit to such a spectacular site too long. And now that the summer crowds are gone, Crai recommends fall as a great time to visit Mount St. Helens. He says the drive up the mountain features stunning views of the destruction in the aftermath of the eruption. There are acres of downed trees blown over by the force of the eruption. There is dramatic evidence all around of the path taken by tons of earth and mud in the immediate aftermath of the 1980 explosion.Before he moved to the Washington state to attend The Evergreen State College in Olympia, Crai didn’t know much at all about St. Helens’ volcanic and geologic history:Years ago my familiarity with Mount St. Helens had to do mostly with knowing that the Grateful Dead broke into "Fire on the Mountain" immediately when they heard the volcano had erupted.Grateful Dead performs "Fire on the Mountain"http://youtu.be/kvUyyhRQhd8But now when Crai flies back home to Seattle from his many travels as a travel correspondent, he always makes sure to look out the airplane window in search of the distinctive mountain whose side was blown away in a powerful eruption. When Crai fixes his glance on Mount St. Helens, standing uniquely among many impressive northwest peaks, he knows he has arrived back home.

Seattle travel writer Crai Bower first came across Mount St. Helens when he was doing a census of the spotted owl population for the Washington State Department of Natural Resources in 1990. Crai was stunned by the vision of Mount St. Helens, which so famously and destructively erupted in 1980. Crai remembers seeing the mountain as he walked down a forest service road:All of a sudden there it was. It was breathing and brooding as the gases were escaping. It was supposedly dormant. Or was it? And then as I was looking at the deep crater, all the earth science that I’d loathed studying in middle school came flowing back, like lava. I suddenly got geology, right there!Pacific Northwest residents often talk about their desire to visit iconic places in our region like Mount St. Helens. But they often avoid those destinations because of crowds. Crai Bower says you don’t want to put off a visit to such a spectacular site too long. And now that the summer crowds are gone, Crai recommends fall as a great time to visit Mount St. Helens. He says the drive up the mountain features stunning views of the destruction in the aftermath of the eruption. There are acres of downed trees blown over by the force of the eruption. There is dramatic evidence all around of the path taken by tons of earth and mud in the immediate aftermath of the 1980 explosion.Before he moved to the Washington state to attend The Evergreen State College in Olympia, Crai didn’t know much at all about St. Helens’ volcanic and geologic history:Years ago my familiarity with Mount St. Helens had to do mostly with knowing that the Grateful Dead broke into "Fire on the Mountain" immediately when they heard the volcano had erupted.Grateful Dead performs "Fire on the Mountain"http://youtu.be/kvUyyhRQhd8But now when Crai flies back home to Seattle from his many travels as a travel correspondent, he always makes sure to look out the airplane window in search of the distinctive mountain whose side was blown away in a powerful eruption. When Crai fixes his glance on Mount St. Helens, standing uniquely among many impressive northwest peaks, he knows he has arrived back home.

Seattle travel writer Crai Bower first came across Mount St. Helens when he was doing a census of the spotted owl population for the Washington State Department of Natural Resources in 1990. Crai was stunned by the vision of Mount St. Helens, which so famously and destructively erupted in 1980. Crai remembers seeing the mountain as he walked down a forest service road:All of a sudden there it was. It was breathing and brooding as the gases were escaping. It was supposedly dormant. Or was it? And then as I was looking at the deep crater, all the earth science that I’d loathed studying in middle school came flowing back, like lava. I suddenly got geology, right there!Pacific Northwest residents often talk about their desire to visit iconic places in our region like Mount St. Helens. But they often avoid those destinations because of crowds. Crai Bower says you don’t want to put off a visit to such a spectacular site too long. And now that the summer crowds are gone, Crai recommends fall as a great time to visit Mount St. Helens. He says the drive up the mountain features stunning views of the destruction in the aftermath of the eruption. There are acres of downed trees blown over by the force of the eruption. There is dramatic evidence all around of the path taken by tons of earth and mud in the immediate aftermath of the 1980 explosion.Before he moved to the Washington state to attend The Evergreen State College in Olympia, Crai didn’t know much at all about St. Helens’ volcanic and geologic history:Years ago my familiarity with Mount St. Helens had to do mostly with knowing that the Grateful Dead broke into "Fire on the Mountain" immediately when they heard the volcano had erupted.Grateful Dead performs "Fire on the Mountain"http://youtu.be/kvUyyhRQhd8But now when Crai flies back home to Seattle from his many travels as a travel correspondent, he always makes sure to look out the airplane window in search of the distinctive mountain whose side was blown away in a powerful eruption. When Crai fixes his glance on Mount St. Helens, standing uniquely among many impressive northwest peaks, he knows he has arrived back home.

Seattle travel writer Crai Bower first came across Mount St. Helens when he was doing a census of the spotted owl population for the Washington State Department of Natural Resources in 1990. Crai was stunned by the vision of Mount St. Helens, which so famously and destructively erupted in 1980. Crai remembers seeing the mountain as he walked down a forest service road:All of a sudden there it was. It was breathing and brooding as the gases were escaping. It was supposedly dormant. Or was it? And then as I was looking at the deep crater, all the earth science that I’d loathed studying in middle school came flowing back, like lava. I suddenly got geology, right there!Pacific Northwest residents often talk about their desire to visit iconic places in our region like Mount St. Helens. But they often avoid those destinations because of crowds. Crai Bower says you don’t want to put off a visit to such a spectacular site too long. And now that the summer crowds are gone, Crai recommends fall as a great time to visit Mount St. Helens. He says the drive up the mountain features stunning views of the destruction in the aftermath of the eruption. There are acres of downed trees blown over by the force of the eruption. There is dramatic evidence all around of the path taken by tons of earth and mud in the immediate aftermath of the 1980 explosion.Before he moved to the Washington state to attend The Evergreen State College in Olympia, Crai didn’t know much at all about St. Helens’ volcanic and geologic history:Years ago my familiarity with Mount St. Helens had to do mostly with knowing that the Grateful Dead broke into "Fire on the Mountain" immediately when they heard the volcano had erupted.Grateful Dead performs "Fire on the Mountain"http://youtu.be/kvUyyhRQhd8But now when Crai flies back home to Seattle from his many travels as a travel correspondent, he always makes sure to look out the airplane window in search of the distinctive mountain whose side was blown away in a powerful eruption. When Crai fixes his glance on Mount St. Helens, standing uniquely among many impressive northwest peaks, he knows he has arrived back home.

Seattle travel writer Crai Bower first came across Mount St. Helens when he was doing a census of the spotted owl population for the Washington State Department of Natural Resources in 1990. Crai was stunned by the vision of Mount St. Helens, which so famously and destructively erupted in 1980. Crai remembers seeing the mountain as he walked down a forest service road:All of a sudden there it was. It was breathing and brooding as the gases were escaping. It was supposedly dormant. Or was it? And then as I was looking at the deep crater, all the earth science that I’d loathed studying in middle school came flowing back, like lava. I suddenly got geology, right there!Pacific Northwest residents often talk about their desire to visit iconic places in our region like Mount St. Helens. But they often avoid those destinations because of crowds. Crai Bower says you don’t want to put off a visit to such a spectacular site too long. And now that the summer crowds are gone, Crai recommends fall as a great time to visit Mount St. Helens. He says the drive up the mountain features stunning views of the destruction in the aftermath of the eruption. There are acres of downed trees blown over by the force of the eruption. There is dramatic evidence all around of the path taken by tons of earth and mud in the immediate aftermath of the 1980 explosion.Before he moved to the Washington state to attend The Evergreen State College in Olympia, Crai didn’t know much at all about St. Helens’ volcanic and geologic history:Years ago my familiarity with Mount St. Helens had to do mostly with knowing that the Grateful Dead broke into "Fire on the Mountain" immediately when they heard the volcano had erupted.Grateful Dead performs "Fire on the Mountain"http://youtu.be/kvUyyhRQhd8But now when Crai flies back home to Seattle from his many travels as a travel correspondent, he always makes sure to look out the airplane window in search of the distinctive mountain whose side was blown away in a powerful eruption. When Crai fixes his glance on Mount St. Helens, standing uniquely among many impressive northwest peaks, he knows he has arrived back home.

Seattle travel writer Crai Bower first came across Mount St. Helens when he was doing a census of the spotted owl population for the Washington State Department of Natural Resources in 1990. Crai was stunned by the vision of Mount St. Helens, which so famously and destructively erupted in 1980. Crai remembers seeing the mountain as he walked down a forest service road:All of a sudden there it was. It was breathing and brooding as the gases were escaping. It was supposedly dormant. Or was it? And then as I was looking at the deep crater, all the earth science that I’d loathed studying in middle school came flowing back, like lava. I suddenly got geology, right there!Pacific Northwest residents often talk about their desire to visit iconic places in our region like Mount St. Helens. But they often avoid those destinations because of crowds. Crai Bower says you don’t want to put off a visit to such a spectacular site too long. And now that the summer crowds are gone, Crai recommends fall as a great time to visit Mount St. Helens. He says the drive up the mountain features stunning views of the destruction in the aftermath of the eruption. There are acres of downed trees blown over by the force of the eruption. There is dramatic evidence all around of the path taken by tons of earth and mud in the immediate aftermath of the 1980 explosion.Before he moved to the Washington state to attend The Evergreen State College in Olympia, Crai didn’t know much at all about St. Helens’ volcanic and geologic history:Years ago my familiarity with Mount St. Helens had to do mostly with knowing that the Grateful Dead broke into "Fire on the Mountain" immediately when they heard the volcano had erupted.Grateful Dead performs "Fire on the Mountain"http://youtu.be/kvUyyhRQhd8But now when Crai flies back home to Seattle from his many travels as a travel correspondent, he always makes sure to look out the airplane window in search of the distinctive mountain whose side was blown away in a powerful eruption. When Crai fixes his glance on Mount St. Helens, standing uniquely among many impressive northwest peaks, he knows he has arrived back home.

Seattle travel writer Crai Bower first came across Mount St. Helens when he was doing a census of the spotted owl population for the Washington State Department of Natural Resources in 1990. Crai was stunned by the vision of Mount St. Helens, which so famously and destructively erupted in 1980. Crai remembers seeing the mountain as he walked down a forest service road:All of a sudden there it was. It was breathing and brooding as the gases were escaping. It was supposedly dormant. Or was it? And then as I was looking at the deep crater, all the earth science that I’d loathed studying in middle school came flowing back, like lava. I suddenly got geology, right there!Pacific Northwest residents often talk about their desire to visit iconic places in our region like Mount St. Helens. But they often avoid those destinations because of crowds. Crai Bower says you don’t want to put off a visit to such a spectacular site too long. And now that the summer crowds are gone, Crai recommends fall as a great time to visit Mount St. Helens. He says the drive up the mountain features stunning views of the destruction in the aftermath of the eruption. There are acres of downed trees blown over by the force of the eruption. There is dramatic evidence all around of the path taken by tons of earth and mud in the immediate aftermath of the 1980 explosion.Before he moved to the Washington state to attend The Evergreen State College in Olympia, Crai didn’t know much at all about St. Helens’ volcanic and geologic history:Years ago my familiarity with Mount St. Helens had to do mostly with knowing that the Grateful Dead broke into "Fire on the Mountain" immediately when they heard the volcano had erupted.Grateful Dead performs "Fire on the Mountain"http://youtu.be/kvUyyhRQhd8But now when Crai flies back home to Seattle from his many travels as a travel correspondent, he always makes sure to look out the airplane window in search of the distinctive mountain whose side was blown away in a powerful eruption. When Crai fixes his glance on Mount St. Helens, standing uniquely among many impressive northwest peaks, he knows he has arrived back home.

Christine Deavel reads excerpts from the title poem of “Woodnote” (Bear Star Press, 2011). Her collection won the 2012 Washington State Book Award for poetry from the Washington Center for the Book.Deavel is co-owner of Open Books: A Poem Emporium, in Wallingford. Open Books is one of just three poetry-only bookstores in the United States. Her reading was recorded at the Open Books Open Elsewhere series at the Good Shepherd Center in October 2011. Thanks to Steve Peters for assistance with the audio recording.Links: 'Economy,' By Christine Deavel In Golden Handcuffs Review  'Hometown,' By Christine Deavel In The Far Field Review Of 'Woodnote' At Crosscut