Right Place, Right Time

This is a pretty, pretty, pretty amazing photo (Carlos Gutierrez/UPI/Landov) of Chile's Chaitén volcano a couple days ago, which hasn't erupted in over 9,000 years. Some stats: 12 mile high ash plume, 4,000 evacuees, square miles in dust.

It's called a "dirty thunderstorm." It's a phenomenon not well known yet, but most atmospheric physicists maintain that volcanic lightning is a result of a large amount of electric charge released by the volcano itself. The static charge is sparked when it collides with ash and ice particles in the plume.

A fascinating photo. It looks like what I imagine the end of the world to look like. We will awake in the middle of the night, walk outside into the middle of the street with our neighbors, where no one speaks. They look up. It's all around us. And it sounds like hell. Like cats screaming over a thousand baritone singing men.