During the long lockdown, I started caring for plants in odd-shaped pots made from pumice volcanic rock from Mount Pinatubo. Formed when lava cools, this light, porous material blanketed much of Central Luzon after Pinatubo erupted in 1991 and has a range of uses, including aggregate in construction. 

Rather than simply crushing and mixing it with cement, someone I met while biking has pumice rock carved roughly into pots, each one a unique shape with holes drilled in the bottom for drainage. 

I then turn these into obsessive little gardens where I experiment with combinations of ornamental plants. Cultivating life like this was a great way back in 2020-2021 to distract me from thoughts that the world was dying. 

Working with Pinatubo lava also reminds me of my roots as a young disaster reporter when I covered the Mt. Pinatubo eruption in 1991, as well as the Baguio earthquake of 1990 and the Ormoc flash flood of 1991. 

Living in the most disaster-prone country in the world, we continue to deal with calamity in a wide variety of ways. 

Back in October, the Taal Lake region where I live was hammered by a terrible storm, KristinePH, that triggered landslides, leveled homes, and took many lives. My family and immediate neighbors survived with repairable damage. But others did not. A couple I know lost their home. 

Fast forward to December 2024 and the frenzy of face-to-face revelry. 

I invited the disheartened couple to my home for lunch. They had just found a temporary place to live nearby, but were still recovering from their trauma. I won’t identify them to protect their privacy. 

To help them transition to their new home I gave them a small starter lava garden which I had been caring for. I told them I treat these families of plants like pets. 

I got an update: 

“The plants are doing very well and actually live on the kitchen counter with some stoneware. It grew some small mushrooms, and that is when I knew it wanted to be photographed!”

I’m still figuring it out but there’s a lesson in that, perhaps a cosmic message about renewal. 

The Pinatubo eruption in 1991 was among the most destructive in the planet’s recorded history. But it produced lava rock that can be carved into porous pots which are nearly perfect for growing life. Their elegantly rugged form emits a primal vibe rooted in one of nature’s most powerful forces. 

In my friends’ new kitchen, volcanic rock has become a soulful, delicate sanctuary.