Even in its mostly cleaned-up state, mounds of dirt and debris still dot the grayish-brown landscape.

Shadrack stared at the soft colors that filled these triangles: the lumpy whiteness of rice, the quivering blood tomatoes, the grayish-brown meat.

They comprised three parts: a dark, spiky, fingerlike column of ash, with a grayish-brown ash cloud above, and a nice topping of billowy white steam.