I was buried under the stuff from that volcano he was talking about. It was in 1980 (Mt. St. Helens). I was at our alma mater (both of us went there) in Pullman, over 200 miles from the volcano. A bright sunny day in mid May turned darker than the darkest cave at midnight and about 8-12 inches of fine volcanic ash rained down over the next 8 hours. At midnight we left the student union building after being locked inside (they wouldn't let anyone out) and it was like walking through a match factory on the Moon. Closed the university for a week (Party!).
And we were over 200 miles east of the volcano. Something I'll remember for my entire life.