There's a curious French proverb whose meaning (never mind origins) forever escapes me: "Don't dance on volcanoes."   Well, who would?, my inner simpleton asks, especially if you were sashaying across an active volcano. When I think of volcanoes, or am glued to media coverage of volcanic eruptions, I am incredibly moved. There's something majestic about this fissure in the earth's crust that occasionally lets loose rivers of molten lava and deadly gases. I look upon them as great beasts of nature which evoke fear - and profound respect. I've trekked around volcanoes in Iceland (before the ash-spewing craziness of 2010) but the cold temperatures and layers of ice and snow somehow buffered me from the true heart of the volcano. In Costa Rica, however, the tropical Central American terrain and heat had a different effect on me. The volcanoes here take on a more brooding quality. Arenal Volcano at Night [caption id="attachment_2758" align="aligncenter" width="420" caption="The Arenal Volcano at Night:(Photo courtesy of Pablo LP)"] [/caption] You can see that moodiness in this photo of the Arenal Volcano on the outskirts of the village of La Fortuna, Costa Rica. The volcano was eerily quiet during my visit, but local photographer Pablo (from Destafio tours) captured this scene six weeks earlier. I look upon this photo and I'm reminded of how very, very small we are.