Ghost Tree Above Hilo Town

There is a stretch of the highway coming down from Volcano, Hawaii that has many mini-forests of giant albizia trees.

These trees grow so tall that they essentially kill themselves because their root systems are so shallow that wind can play a factor with their survival.

Others like this lone sentinel survive standing as a skeleton

The Creation of Land, of Life

There is a lot of photography out there that presents around the spectacle of hot, colorful lava. This action represents the creation of land.

However, there is another aspect that I find integral to volcanic themes: the creation of life.

Some of the first forms of life that emerges from the barren lava landscape are plants, such as the ferns pictured above, with Halemaau erupting in the background.