Somehow I am now on the receiving end of numerous “health tips” which are mostly incorrect in that following their advice would not improve my health. I do know about Unsubscribe, but some of these come from sources I have to unblock, such as my health insurance provider. I often click the Not helpful button.

Some tips are straightforward though, for example: When flowing lava or hot ash comes your way, flee. 

Recently I watched a show, probably Nova, about the summer volcanos in Hawaii, by which I of course mean the Big Island in that eponymous archipelago, the only one which will be getting bigger during our lifetimes. Last summer a slow lava flow emerged right in the middle of a neighborhood, followed by a faster one, then another in a different neighborhood. Ultimately a quick-flowing lava river carved a path to the sea, much of it through populated areas.

Though Kilauea does have a conventional mountain and crater, these eruptions came from lava flowing underground away from the mountain then popping out at unexpected spots. The monitors were alerted to the situation when lava levels in two craters dramatically dropped, because the lava was spreading out.

California is a geologically exciting state, but volcanos we have only in the far north, where the end of the Cascade range, which is mostly the problem of Oregon and Washington, sneaks into our state. I am glad I live far from volcanos. Humans can adapt to anything though, and when the neighborhoods of Hawaii were threatened by underground and eventually aboveground lava streams, the humans tried to manage the situation. The evacuation was precise, street-by-street, and limited in time, as in, people were reluctant to leave then clamoring to return even as lava continued to flow, while authorities, instead of saying, Do you want to die, fools?, were trying to accommodate them by predicting flow directions in real time. Striking footage showed one family trying to get a final few possessions and pets into a car as a slow flow seeped through their fence, perhaps 15 feet away.

I grew up in Houston, where people sometimes die because they don’t flee floods, and I totaled a car once while trying to drive through a flood; when the back seat filled, I abandoned it and took my chances in waist-deep water. That was foolish. Yet with water you have a chance of swimming or wading or holding your breath or holding onto something while the flood flows around you, which in my case was my brother, who is much taller. Flowing lava measures 1200 degrees C on average, and when it contacts combustible material, such as a human, combustion occurs.

Fire is the visible effect of combustion.

I am simply exposing myself as a provincial. If I had more erudition in the way of lava, I would regard it with the insouciance it deserves. One such Reddit contributor reports wearing special lava gloves that allow him to grab some fresh lava for various fun experiments and games, and assures us one can walk safely on it ten minutes after it stops flowing.

Living near a volcano must be sort of like having a pet dragon.