100 Feet Above An Active Volcano

I still remember the feel of the shiny magazine pages in my hands. I was only 6 years old, tightly grasping an issue of National Geographic, eyes as large as saucers. A full-page photo of Hawaii’s most active volcano, Kilauea, burned into my retinas like red-hot lava. My imagination caught on fire.

I knew it at that very moment.

I had to get up close to this volcano. I had to feel it. I just had to.