Bright, hot, flowing, and awesome

The one time we visited the big island of Hawaii was awesome. One of our most memorable adventures was a helicopter tour we took of the island's volcano, Mauna Kea. Mom and Howie and I flew out over the lava flow, checking out the damage the volcano had done, as well as seeing where the current flow was heading. We saw where the lava met the ocean, and witnessed the huge plumes of steam that rose from the hottest material on the planet meeting the water.
But most memorably, we hovered over the opening of a lava hole (I know that's not the exact term, but that's what I'm calling it) and saw the orange glow of the center of the earth in person. I had a seat by the window, and could feel the heat through the glass. I put my hand to the window, and felt it cook a bit from the ambient heat of being so close to the hole. One of my life's biggest regrets is that I didn't grab Mom's hand and make her feel the heat through the window, too, since she had the middle seat.
But more than anything, it was incredibly cool, and remarkably humbling, to see the core of the planet, realizing how small and insignificant people are in the planet's own history. I'll never forget that adventure, and I'm forever fascinated by that volcano and it's constant flow. So seeing the new images of the increased flow all over the Internets lately has been a curious delight for me. This pic, though from the recent activity, is exactly what we all saw that day all those years ago, and it continues to amaze me.