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With Mount Redoubt volcano belching ash (and possibly lava) in Southcentral Alaska, volcanoes are very much on people's minds.

As a practical matter, Redoubt's eruption has little effect on Fairbanks, aside from messing up air traffic. If there's a vigorous eruption and the winds are just right, we might get a little ash, but that's about it.

I love living in a state where active volcanoes are part of the scenery. I've been fortunate enough to experience a couple of pretty good eruptions -- fortunate because the ash didn't destroy my truck or damage my health.

In 1992, I had a ringside seat when Mount Spurr erupted. At the time, I lived in Anchorage near Cook Inlet and had a terrific view of one ash cloud, which turned a cool August afternoon into gritty night in just a couple of hours. The picture above is from a smaller eruption a few weeks later. It was taken from my living room window.

There are even volcanoes in Interior Alaska, although they're not the dramatic peaks you see on the Ring of Fire. I was surprised to read last week that there was one practically in Fairbanks' backyard.

Ned Rozell's Science Forum column talked about Prindle Volcano in the Fortymile region. Scientists think the last eruption was almost 2,000 years ago. There are a couple of inactive volcanoes near Healy and a bunch of them in the Wrangell Mountains. Wrangell Volcano often has a steam plume above it, but they're mostly quiet.

Which is good. Volcanoes are interesting, but I prefer to admire them from afar.