At 4am on June 5th I boarded a boat in Hilo that would take me to the active ocean entry where lava from Fissure 8 was flowing into Kopoho Bay. At that time I had no idea that I would witness the terrifying burning of homes by the advancing lava. It was surreal to see the white plumes of steam rising next to the black smoke of ocean-front burn. And opposite the flames, a Hawaii sunrise filled the sky with nature's indifference. Sad to us, but natural too. Creation. Destruction. Creation.