European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - April 30, 1992, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Passengers on a passing plane get a Good View of mount Etna s Cone breaking through the Clouds and smoke. Below a Stone retaining Wall bears the scars of a previous eruption. Fire fury and new life a molten River of lava flows through a vent in a natural Tunnel toward the Village of Zafferano Finea. By Jim Derheim staff photographer anyone standing near red hot lava is left with impressions that Don t soon disappear the lava River that flows past your toes a if you re Brave enough to stand As close to it As some did a comes not with a Roar but with a tinkle by the time the magma gets near the end of its Rocky journey a 10 twisting Miles from mount Etna s 6,500-foot-High Summit a it has the consistency of Oatmeal the feel of an open oven set on 2,000 degrees and the sound of your Mother s wind Chimes. As the lava cools it forms a crust that unwillingly Breaks away and Falls to the Side As Small briquettes. As the hot chunks meet the cooler air they contract and split creating a mini symphony of ticks Clicks and tinkles like the engine Block of a hot Rod at rest after a race around the Block. The once untouchable lava soon forms pieces that Are easy to pick up. Some visitors to mount Etna s metamorphosis did just that a few walked away sucking a burned Finger their other hand clutching souvenir wrapped in a Bandanna there s another part of the spectacle unseen but smelled. It s an odor that once it passes through your nostrils becomes a permanent part of your memory. One adventurous hiker who unwittingly stood on some built up stones that were perched directly above a Rivulet of lava aptly described tin odor As Quot my burning  downhill from the Edge of the new lava it is possible m see the remains of other flows As you Cross Etna s sloping flank some of those flows became solid streams of Rock that have  sliced through to admit a Highway. But As the descent continues the Bleak Moons Caf get of i to nut a natural Battlefield gradually gives Way to scrub Pine and feathery Bushes that wave in the constant wind that mans across this new addition to the planet Earth suddenly there s an explosion of life As you Cross an visible Barrier of Altitude it refreshes the senses alter the a a  lands Cash. Of the littered higher Plain a do mgr a a a a ski were White Ellow and de w a a in a Iresh free a Quot \ i i i tit a m a  .1 tti.-, Timaul v Hange i t Oie. A i Ewt. At to i hot i a to i ohis i i Rita n a 1 cd Quot a 1. ,. ,. A f if a it a t a t -11 j a a 1 a Etc life takes the form of White daisies growing on the lower dopes of mount Etna. Saw do i d fan observer ponders the Power of the Volcano As he stands atop a growing pile of debris. At left towers of lava emerge from the Snow on mount Etna s Summit. I1 a  so