Earthquakes, tsumanis and home, oh my! - Sunday, March 13, 2011

Three hours sleep Thursday night/Friday morning--stayed up watching the news from Japan. An 8.9 earthquake, 5th largest in Japan's history struck mid-day when people were working. 

Inconceivable devastation in the northern part of Honshu--Sendai, and multiple other towns torn apart, boats tossed about over land like toys in a messy mud puddle which a car has driven through and disrupted. Watching the tsunami sweep over cars fleeing it, knowing that lives were being extinguished. Then came the fires, in some places, but not others. Nuclear power plants in danger of meltdown. How much can the survivors endure? How many are alive but trapped in the rubble? How many have lost their homes, their relatives, their pets, their possessions? Where will all of the displaced people get food and shelter?

My mind has trouble comprehending what I was watching on TV. Thousands of people's lives were disrupted, uprooted or lost. Mother Nature is terrible on one hand, and wonderful on another. In our lives, we never know which way the dice will roll. 

Tsunami warnings were broadcast for so many nations and also Hawaii and the West Coast of the United States. But that seemed insignificant in comparison to what we watched transpire in Japan. 
 
For us, it was a mere inconvenience--where Bob worked, it involved moving work trucks to higher ground. At our work, our IT administrator went to the office in the middle of the night to collect the company's server in case we had a tsunami. (Our office is across the street from the ocean.) 

For Japan, it affects their lives, livelihood and morale.

I wish I could physically go there to help, but I feel so helpless in a catastrophe of such magnitude. I will donate to charitable causes who are already on the front lines and who can respond and help immediately.

Here at home, we are fine. The weather is beautiful. We have so much to be thankful for. There was tsunami damage in Kona on the Big Island and some damage on Maui. Marinas and harbors throughout the islands had a bit more damage, but overall, Hawaii fared pretty well. 

Our mundane lives go on. Yesterday, I got my hair done, Bob played basketball and worked, we went to Zippy's for dinner. This morning was the farmer's market and now I will garden. This afternoon we plan to see "Rango."

Our thoughts and positive energy are with our friend, Bob Neary, who will undergo heart surgery tomorrow. Go, Bob! 

Travel bug out.