
I've always been fascinated by volcanoes, even in young childhood. I devoured every book I could find about them.
When Mount Saint Helens blew in 1980, it was the first volcanic eruption on the U.S. mainland in my lifetime. Needless to say, I was glued to the television screen and everything in print I could find.
Now, the beautifully symmetrical Mount Mayon in the Philippines is at it again. This article from the London Daily Mail highlights the imminent eruption, and something else that's always fascinated — and troubled — me besides the volcanic eruptions themselves.
Why do people insist on remaining in harm's way when they know they could pay with their lives? Why would one want to build a home on the slopes of an active volcano?
It's understandable if the volcano has been inactive for thousands of years. Some volcanoes are extinct, with little possibility of future eruptions. However, other volcanoes are dormant, or asleep. Others erupt quite frequently, such as Italy's Mount Etna, Stromboli in the Mediterranean, and Mount Mayon in the Philippines. Caribbean volcanoes can be quite deadly, as the inhabitants of Martinique and other islands can attest.
With Mount Saint Helens, the eruption in 1980 caught many by surprise, but it wasn't long before it was obvious to all that the thing was ready to blow its top. Yet a stubborn old man named Harry Truman remained put, insisting that he and St. Helens were friends and she wouldn't hurt him. He died along with about 50 others when the inevitable eruption took place. I would venture to guess that most people won't want to build a chalet on the slopes of St. Helens anytime soon.
Any place has its risks. In the Midwest, we have tornadoes. The Gulf Coast has hurricanes. You realize the risks and weigh them when choosing a place to live. But living on the slopes of an active, regularly erupting volcano passes my understanding.
Why this death wish? And right here at Christmas time?
Get out of there, people!!




