Only a mere 35 miles away, Kilauea volcano's magma has emerged routinely since 1983. Most of the time since then, the magma heads downhill towards the ocean along a course that is largely no longer inhabited. But, late last June, new fissures and vents opened up with some of the flow heading in the direction it always heads, the ocean, but the only thing different: the town in the center of the Puna district was standing in it's path. The thing about the lava flow covering the high way and devouring Pahoa town, wasn't just that it would displace many people, but the fact that It would cut off much of the puna district from Hilo, forcing commuters who live further out to commute differently to their jobs in town. It would almost certainly mean exponentially increasing their travel time, disrupting the gentle tranquility of the island. I got an email from Tanner Curtis on the National Desk at The New York Times, asking if I would be interested in flying out to Hilo to photograph Pahoa Town to accompany a story by Times writer Diane Cardwell, and a video by Erik Braund. After booking my flight and securing a rental car, a day later I was off to Hilo. A huge shout out to Bruce Omori and his wife Sheryl for giving advice about the Big Island, where I haddn't been in over 10 years, and giving me a place to juice up my laptop and steal...*ahem*...borrow internet at their gallery, Extreme Exposure, in downtown Hilo. You can read Diane's article here, and view Erik's video here.