Well, the Silver Whisper has docked at Pier 1 in the Port of Hilo.  Waved HI! to Captain Julian Albici from my veranda. Tours are in the $500 range, and I've seen a dozen eruptions in my life.  On the other hand, can you believe this timing?  From Google AI: Kīlauea volcano is currently experiencing precursory activity and overflowing lava at the Halemaʻumaʻu summit crater as scientists monitor the buildup to episode 55 , according to the U.S. Geological Survey - USGS . [ 1 , 2 , 3 ] Current Activity and Status Alert Level: The U.S. Geological Survey has set the volcano alert level to WATCH and the aviation color code to ORANGE . [ 1 , 2 ] Summit Overflows: Low-level eruptive activity and repeated overflows from the north vent in the Halemaʻumaʻu crater began on September 7, with activity continuing into September 10. [ 1 , 2 , 3 ] Lava Flows: Two primary lava flows formed from recent overflows, with one traveling about one kilometer southwest and another...

Going back to the Black Death in the mid 1300s,  humanity has suffered through a bunch of pandemics. What is the  Black Death ? A bubonic plague pandemic from 1346 to 1353 killed as many as 50 million people, perhaps half the population of Europe. Rats to fleas to the bacterium  Yersinia pestis .  Once affected, this bacterium could also be spread through the air. After 7000 years, there is no consensus of the origin. The most likely first source though was probably Central Asia, more specifically, China over 2600 years ago. There is no direct link yet established, but could a bat have infected a flea to initiate this pandemic? The deadliest recent outbreak struck Madagascar in 2017, killing 170. There are some pandemics that are still here.  For example, malaria has been around throughout history, and this malady had killed perhaps 50-60 BILLION people, about half of humans that have ever lived. COVID-19 has so far killed 7 million , or an average of 1.4 millio...