Under the Volcano

All the earthquakes tremors from the past several weeks really were a prelude to some volcanic activity on Etna again. These photos were taken this week. (How many photos do I have of Etna? Hundreds! And I keep taking more!) Above is a morning view of the top I took on the way to school on Wednesday morning. It had rained and turned cold, producing a lot of snow. But notice the dark gray cloud on the left? That's ash.

Imagine playing your high school soccer game in the shadow of an erupting volcano! Here are the Sigonella boys vs. Aviano this afternoon. See the cloud of ash at the top? That kept happening all day long.

Here's another puff of ash that I captured on my way home this afternoon, from the nearby town of Belpasso. There is a strong lava flow, which is clearly visible at night, but it's on the sea side of the volcano and not seen from my side (this side, the south side).