Mt. Etna ….. though the lens

 

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Morning (&Mt. Etna) greeted the Bulldogs.
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Salvo (passionate vulcanologist) adjacent to an impact crater …. spins some chemistry and physics into the experience.

 

 

 

 

 

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There is a lot going on in what seems to the layman to be “just another” lava bomb.
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Each hue, each texture, each bump and/or depression tell part of the story of this particular lava bomb.

 

 

 

 

 

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The moments after the challenge begins. The challenge is to use small lava bombs to fashion  “something” NA.

 

 

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Senora Luchia watches in silence.

 

 

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“Beta”
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“Alpha”
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Top (for this challenge) “Gamma”
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Salvo continues to work his magic.
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Same lava bomb material … but …. dramatically different densities.  One porous …one dense.
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“No my friends … the lava cave is not too far.  An “easy” walk of only a few hundred meters.

 

 

 

 

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And a “few very interesting hundred meters” it was.  Almost a scree slope (only this was made of lava bomb fragments).  Very interesting footing.
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And so it began!

 

 

 

 

 

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The “lava cave.”
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Dogs come to learn that Etna provides a porous surface upon which plants can make a new start.

 

 

 

 

 

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They made it “look” easy.  From personal experience …. it only “looks” that way.
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Pizza with my friends!
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Descending into the 2nd longest lava tube in Italy.

 

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Senora Luchia provides a little more than moral support to Angelina.

 

 

 

 

 

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Lava tube primer inside the first chamber.

 

 

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A little limbo would have helped with the entry into the second area.
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Dante and Mario  testing their  L5S1 stability.
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The “numinous” nine

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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The “scheming” six  …. err…uhhh …. I mean … The “sagacious” six.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Allora … So there we were …

We came …We saw …We touched…We descended …We climbed (uggh!) …. We listened, watched, and all became part of a very special experience.

Grazie mille Salvo!

 

Ciao,   Alfredo