Naked on the lava fields

[John P]

Stripping off a few layers when things heat up can often be the most natural thing in the world.

Few of us, however, would attempt it in front of a crowd of hundreds while stood in front of a volcano spewing lava.

https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/iceland-volcano-naked/index.html

[Greenbare Woods]

"A festival is not a true festival unless someone gets naked," adds Niman.

I can't argue with that from the Iceland volcano.    I have gotten naked in front of hundreds of clothed people at a festival.  Not at a lava field because we don't have those around here much, but at other festivals.  Naked is a way of celebrating nature, and volcanoes are nature.

[jbeegoode]

So, they say that there is something normal about getting nekkid at a festival? An interesting message and attitude from CNN. It is weird how one simple naked body will upstage a seething volcano.

Yea, Bob, it just wouldn't have been the same to pose nude when Mt. St. Helens erupted. 
Perhaps that is one exception to the theory that everything is better nude. It depends on the size of your volcanic explosion.

The notion and reaction did add an insight to the eruption. It is a given that it would be kinda hot, but how hot? "Like standing next to a bonfire." So now we know....

HotDogs!!!
Jbee

[nuduke]

I'd give a lot to be there (naked or not).  Stunning nature in full glory.  Sadly we can't travel because of the blasted plague.
I expect there will be the facility to cook hot dogs on the stones for some months or possibly years ahead. 
When we had a holiday in Iceland (in top 3 of all time) the aftermath of volcanic activity was just awesome. 
Full marks to the nude guy.  There's just that urge to doff your clothes when faced by such spectacles.  Icelanders don't have too much hang ups about nudity, I don't think.  When we bathed at the hot springs, they insisted we showered and got ready naked.  But the pools themselves required costumes.  Go figure...  And then there's the saunas etc.  I don't suppose there's too much naturism up there as it's too dang cold most of the time!
John

[Greenbare Woods]

Yea, Bob, it just wouldn't have been the same to pose nude when Mt. St. Helens erupted. 
Jbee

My experience with Mt. St. Helens was a big dark cloud of sand raining on us.  We didn't know what it was at first, and it was pretty scary to experience.  And that was about 150 miles away as the crow flies.  We went into our house and hoped that the sand didn't get too heavy for our roof.  Then we got news reports that it was getting into car engines and grinding them up.  The sand/dust was fine glass shards and almost immediately overloaded and got through normal car air filters.  It was also somewhat radioactive at first. 

Going naked in the ash would not have been a problem, but a real dust mask was needed.  You didn't want to breathe that dust. Those silly "covid" masks would not have helped much.  The next day, after the dust settled, we watered our lawns, hosed off the sidewalks, and the city began some street washing. 

Hawaii and Iceland have volcanoes with slow moving melted rock lava, not the explosive high altitude sand kind.   Getting close to hot lava would keep you warm while naked, and there isn't any dust to get in your lungs.  It mostly flows slowly so you can easily keep ahead of the lava on foot.  I liked the guy who grilled a hot dog on the lava.

[jbeegoode]

Was the fine powered sand hot by that time? I've heard of Mt. Vesuvius victims dying of a gas and then buried in the ash. People around St. Helens had trouble breathing. Same stuff?

Loved the movie with Art Carney.
Jbee

[Peter S]

If I remember my history lessons correctly, the Vesuvius eruption that took out Pompeii was what they call a”pyroclastic flow”, a mass of dust and ash so heavy it rolled downhill at great speed and smothered everything and everyone before they could get out of its way, hence all the finds in the excavated city of people overwhelmed in the moment of doing something. They’d had a few days’ of airborne ash, but the final event was too much, too quickly.

[Greenbare Woods]

Was the fine powered sand hot by that time? I've heard of Mt. Vesuvius victims dying of a gas and then buried in the ash. People around St. Helens had trouble breathing. Same stuff?
Loved the movie with Art Carney. Jbee

Not hot.  Just fine sand composed of fine glass like dust and sharp pieces.  Where I was living we only got about 1/4 inch total covering everything.  We were about 150 miles away so it had cooled off by the time it got to us, and any large lumps had fallen out of the dust cloud.  Still the fine sand and dust was horribly abrasive and long term bad for lungs.  I collected a jar of it which my wife ended up with after her divorce.

[jbeegoode]

Funny how keepsakes and souvenirs are felt about and treasured for lifetimes, even divorce. I still have a piece of concrete block and barbed wire from my visit to the Berlin Wall 55 years ago. Like something that you'd find in a rubbish pile at a construction site. That jar would be a very tangible lesson right now, about the nature of the stuff.
Jbee

[nuduke]

On my trip to Iceland in 2013 there was still lots of evidence of the huge dust and ash eruption from Eyjafjallajökull in 2010 which, if you recall, stopped air traffic all across N. Europe.  I collected a small jar of it on visiting a huge waterfall where the ash had created a sort of barren pavement where one could approach the base of the waterfall until the pressure of the spray beat you back.  Again, it is a little treasure from an amazing place and a remnant of an awesome natural event.  The guide told us that, like you, Bob, the streets and houses were thickly swamped with the ash layer in many places and there was a period of weeks where everything had to be dug out of the ash.  I would post a picture of it but for some reason today I can't get my photo site to generate the code so I can post it! Very puzzling.
John

[John P]

No more nudity, but it's like this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nyUCey3qc8Y

[nuduke]

This video is awesome too
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b9Hq6bTBF2A
John

[Karla]

I'd love to do some naked photography in front of a lava field! I would be so happy at the chance to do it!

[jbeegoode]

Now that you mention it, yea, Wow! Primal, earthy, light, contrast, spirit, human....
Jbee

[nuduke]

I continue to keep an eye on the live internet video streams of the volcano and continue wistfully to wish I could be there to witness it first hand.  It may be that the lava will keep issuing for many years to come so there may be a chance to see it in all it's radiant fearsome beauty before it cools to dead, grey cinders (which is what a lot of Iceland is made of!).
John