Mayon Volcano - Gentle but Fiery

Mayon is a paradox. Tourists flock while residents escape danger; lava destroys but in the long run fertilizes the field, so with volcanic ash; it is self-destruct and self-healing. People curse, people revere.

Dr Abe V Rotor 

Living with Nature - School on Blog

Paaralang Bayan sa Himpapawid (People's School-on-Air) with Ms Melly C Tenorio

738 DZRB AM, 8-9 evening class Monday to Friday

This is how close I got over the crater of Mayon Volcano on Cebu Pacific flight from Manila to Iloilo in 2012. It was a bright morning with a spray of rainbow dramatically unveiling  the majestic cone.

Old photos (August 14, 1928) showing the ruins of the church and belfry of Cagsawa after the 1814 eruption. (Acknowledgement: Internet) 

 
Mayon is a paradox. Tourists flock while residents escape danger; lava destroys but fertilizes the field, so with volcanic ash; it is self-destruct and self-healing.  People curse, people revere.  Beauty begets beauty only after an episode of disaster. Science versus superstition; technology versus unpredictability; impermanence versus balance. Enigma is the word.   (Acknowledgement: Internet, Wikipedia, National Geographic)    

And what is peace and harmony?  Perfection and symmetry? Gentleness and majesty?  Ask the artist, the native of the place, the tourist, a survivor of eruptions, big and small.  Ask a child, a balikbayan. (Acknowledgement: Internet, Wikipedia)   

Left: This is how fire and water meet on the slope, cascading through gullies and solidifying in the process to become part of the volcano's perfect cone. Left:  Before the catastrophic episode, the volcano groans as magma in its vowels expands and rises until the volcano can no longer contain the tremendous pressure.  Result: eruption, a cyclic phenomenon that draws awe and fear, mystery and respect to this beautiful, enigmatic creation.  (Paintings in acrylic by the author)