Eruption

One hour speedpaint of the view I saw on Monday as Mt Sakurajima erupted over my head on my way home from work.
I felt very very small watching the ash bulge out of the crater and high into the clear blue sky casting a great shadow. As I stood completely alone on the bridge over the lava channel I could have been at any point in time. No noise but the distant thundering volcano and the cries of birds. Even though I’ve been living here for 2 months I had not truly felt that raw power of the volcano until that moment. In fact i’m not sure I’ve felt so belittled by the Earth in my whole life. It is very humbling indeed.
Whatever we do to Earth, life will continue, volcanoes will erupt, the ocean will lap at the shore. The current environmental crisis we are facing is a matter of whether we will have an Earth that we, as a species, can survive on. Do what you can to protect this fiery, watery planet that is our only home.