Yes, I think I will go back to school and become a volcanologist. Not only does it roll off the tongue pleasantly, it seems to imply I may be part of the Vulcan tribe. Plus, it would be fun to answer the question, “what do you do?” with “oh, I’m a volcanologist.” But, really, I am fascinated with how this earth came to be — that’s part of the reason I collect buckets of rocks and minerals and read about the geology of everywhere I live. I recently used Google Earth to go back in time and see how the Folsom Dam was filled — what it looked like before and after.
I realize that the earth is not stable. It evolves, it changes, and will continue to progress.
The Hawaii volcano on the big island, Kilauea Volcano, recently became active. Right after I finally decided to buy airline tickets to the big island with the miles I’ve been saving for 8 years. I am still planning to go, but I hate earthquakes, even though I’ve lived through some, and my grandma lived through the San Francisco earthquake.
The USGS has photos and videos which are in the public domain — some are taken with those drones, called UAS (unmanned aircraft system). That makes being a volcanologist a lot safer — I don’t want to really stand on the edge of a volcano — I’ll let the drones do that. But I love to watch the earth and the Kilauea volcano is currently a hot one.
Kilauea Volcano, Hawaii, caldera
