Good evening, Kate.

Well, I finally take the opportunity to visit, and here I find something that is, indeed, pretty cool. I am, however, concerned about actually using those spa lights: the last thing I need is to soak in a darkened tub wherein spotlights are highlighting my agèd hide.

And as an aside, my cat not only likes to prowl around a tub, she’ll actually get in the tub once in a great while. Strangest animal. But your cat has set itself alight wandering too close to candles?! Now, that could get exciting.

It sort of gives new meaning to “put the cat out.”

The Dark Wraith is just passing through.

There were some amazing pictures from our active volcano within the past week of lava flowing into the ocean, and continuing to burn while underwater.  Kinda like your spa lights, only a little more dangerous, I suspect.

Recent activity here, unfortunately not including the reference pics; those were taken by a private company and aren’t available at the news website.

Good morning, Dark Wraith,

I’d like to think of the spa lights as little under water candles. As my mother used to say, candlelight is a complimentary light that covers a multitude of sins. *Everything* looks better by candlelight. 

I once had a cat who liked to curl up in the sink while the slow drip of the faucet filled the sink bowl—until water was up to her neck. The only cat I’ve ever known who liked being immersed in water. A rare cat, indeed. Abbie, though, isn’t fond of water. Still, after dangling her tail over candle flame, she had the good sense to not be insulted when I grabbed it and dunked in the bath water. Maybe a little embarrassed, though. It’s the one true instance where a cat can’t honestly say, “No really, I meant to do that.”

Thanks for passing through, Dark Wraith. It’s always a pleasure to see you.

Those are amazing pictures, Linkmeister. How far away is the core of the volcano from the sea? I noticed the plume of smoke in the background of the first picture...is that the volcano? It seems awfully far away. What an amazing force of nature.

Oh, it’s probably about 25 miles north of the ocean.  The island is growing in size, slowly but surely.  In fact, we had an acre of undeveloped land over there that was overrun by lava about 15 years ago.  The volcano has been in constant eruption for about 23 years.

You can walk up to within about 2 miles (or even closer; I don’t remember) of the vent.  A long time back I went there to see it; you could actually get up to the beach and see steamed fish.  It’s just an amazing amazing experience.

So the lava is flowing toward the ocean, 25 miles away, and still red hot. That’s almost the distance between here and Boston. I didn’t realize that lava would stay red hot that far away from the source. That amazes me.

am working (???) in the showroom in the city today and since anyone who has any sense at all is outside on this gorgeous day, not inside looking at boring furniture and fabric, I am able to roam the internet at will.

Love those lights, am going to look into it further cause I think they are the perfect stocking stuffer for my daughter-in-law and perhaps other son’s girlfriend.  Hell, they are young enough to still really get a kick out of something like that.  And although I AM at the age where I most definitely look better by candlelight - or perhaps NO light--the bathtub might not be the place that is so flattering.  LOL

There are multiple vents all along the route.  It’s not like the movies, where it all flows out of the top of the cone; it’s more like seams all down the slopes.  It bursts out at various stages.

The lava cools and creates caverns and tubes below it, too, which is why it’s really dangerous to walk across a lava field.  Here’s a good example of a tube; you can walk through it, which is kinda cool. I’ve done it.

Well, the way I look at it—I’m not in the tub to inspect all my flaws, so I’m just gonna relax and enjoy the ambience and its therapeutic effects. After 15 minutes or so the water turns ya pruney anyway.

Cool, look at that. I didn’t realize the lava made caverns and tunnels. However, in the first picture link you posted, it looked like some of the lava was coming out from underneath a solid top layer.  And yes, I must be a product of the movies. Volcanos are supposed to spew from the top with lava rolling down the sides. This must be a very large volcano. You have the neatest stuff in Hawaii. I guess you could call a volcano neat stuff as long as it’s not threatening anyone....

Oh, it has threatened and more.  A brief history.  It destroyed 100 homes back in 1991.

Somewhere at that site is a button for Loihi.  That’s the newest volcano, which is offshore of the Big Island and still underwater.  In the next thousand years or so it’s expected to surface.