Earth re-creating itself

My first day in Iceland ,i hike the hills in fog and rain, heading for the light. The mist was thick, and finding the way was harder than we’d expected. Slowly the view cleared ,and i got closer, the fog was bright pink and rivers of lava ran just ahead of me, filling up a small, vegetated valley. Volcanic gases can kill, so low-lying areas should be avoided, but wind conditions were favorable and the fumes were carried away .i got extremely close to the molten lava .it flowed softly and slowly. The heat was comfortable when i was not too close, but of course close is relative: Six feet from flowing lava is quite close. Then i headed up to see the main crater, where a group of early visitors had gathered. You would think we would have felt threatened, but this eruption had no falling ash, no explosions—just this gentle flow of lava, a small river gushing up. The area felt safe, though in one place I saw fumes coming from the ground. In the end, the scene had nothing to do with terror, Mordor, or hell. It was destruction and creation happening simultaneously. There was nothing in between.

Done