Tsunami 日本 One Year On

This is my post from last year's tsunami.
We were still living on the boat.
The sirens went off. . . It was

"History in the Making - 

YOU are there." 

Remember?

ALOHA!                We're OK-

A Blessedly Normal Day in Hawaii!

Today our hearts are with the Japanese people,

our Pacific neighbors, an island people;

Not only through their visits,

but by being such a big part of the fabric of our Hawaii,

The Japanese people are US!

It was a normal Thursday evening around 8pm.

Chores of the day were done

as we settled into relaxation.

"An earthquake in Japan!"

Interrupted our pleasantly pointless entertainment.

"Oh no." Says I

dreading another tsunami scare

Like Feb. 2010!

We have time and warning (thank God)

due to distance and technology,

but grabbing everything you need

when you live on a boat as we do

and wondering where to go

is not a relaxing place to be.

Sure enough the Tsunami Warning came through.

Sirens, police cars with loud speakers,

an atmosphere of restrained hysteria. . .

The harbor came active.  Some preparing for sea,

others to secure their boats and flee.

We can evacuate vertically here in Waikiki high rises,

they're designed to be safe above the 5th floor.

"Call the _____ hotel," says I.

and so we carried our lives,

cat, and necessaries

to a nearby hotel. 

Kitty was smuggled into the no-pets establishment

in a back pack.

Having seen wild water rushing,

and fish swimming over the harbor

during Hurricane Iniki (2 days after moving aboard!)

I had moved my scooter to a nearby building first.

There's too much to tell.

The eerie, empty streets,

watching the coverage on local TV

and wondering what Friday would bring,

but at least we would be safe.

There might be chaos, no power,

food scarcity,

but we would live.

From the 21st floor, we could see hundreds of stars

dotting the ocean: boats out to sea.

We dodged a bullet in Waikiki,

though docks at Keehi lagoon down the coast

broke loose carrying attached boats away,

and similar damage occurred at Haleiwa harbor

on our Oahu North Shore.

In the morning, after 2 hours sleep,

we could just make out our boat still floating below.

The ocean was still full of boats,

so we wondered if the harbor remained closed to them

due to weird surges.

When we carried our lives back to the harbor,

the water was eddying and surging in very strange ways.

The boat went lower than the lowest tide,

banging our rails on the cement pier, 

then rising to normal height in five minutes!

Boaters returning had trouble navigating

the strange currents.

We saw several near misses as they tried to dock.

In Maui a sea turtle was rescued inland

and returned to the sea.

In Kona a hotel is closed,

the main street damaged,

some homes washed out to sea!

During the emergency, cell phones did NOT work,

but hard wired "land lines" did.

Listen, there is just too much to tell,

 and I have time-stamped photos of the dock going

UP & DOWN,

But today is a day of recovery

and concern for Japan.

I thank YOU for your concern!!!!!!!!

And your prayers.

Today's perfect weather

is excellent for emotional recovery.

I SEE the blessing in horde of people normally

going about their day.

We have spoken with friends near and far who worried.

Life's "normal" worries are stripped of importance.

It is good to be alive

in a place with power and food.

Our hearts are with the Japanese people.

Seeing them around town is emotional,

I want  to hug them all.

So as aftershocks occur,

bodies are recovered,

and nuclear plants threaten,

take a moment to send a kind intention

to the people of Japan,

and the people here, and California,

who lost homes, boats, a way of life.

When could this happen again?

Maybe today, maybe tomorrow.

Which is why 19 years living aboard may be

"enough."

More later!  

Forgive me if I don't comment at your site today. . . 

My friend Judy, who lives way up on the hillside,

had a dream-vision of God:

walking through rushing waters

and floating bodies."

He looked at her and said:

"Enjoy your time."

And so we shall.

Every little thing

is an inestimable blessing!

Thank YOU for caring,

and for blessing me with your Aloha- 

 cloudia

Tsunami Warning Waikiki One Year Anniversary

東日本大震災１周年追悼式...天皇陛下のお言葉

東日本大震災から１周年、ここに一同と共に、震災により失われた多くの人々に深く哀悼の意を表します。

　１年前の今日（こんにち）、思いも掛けない巨大地震と津波に襲われ、ほぼ２万に及ぶ死者、行方不明者が生じました。その中には消防団員をはじめ、危険を顧みず、人々の救助や防災活動に従事して命を落とした多くの人々が含まれていることを忘れることができません。

 " An earthquake anniversary from East ... words of the Emperor an earthquake anniversary memorial ceremony East, with Everyone, represents a deep condolences to the many people who are lost due to the earthquake here. "

 

A  L  O  H  A  !

“who knows if the moon's 

 a balloon, coming out of a keen city

in the sky - filled with pretty people?”

 

 E. E. Cummings

" I've been looking for a girl like you -

 not you,

 but a girl like you. "

Groucho Marx

“The night walked down the sky

 with the moon in her hand.” 

 Frederic Lawrence Knowles 




<>  


Thank YOU, Friend!
                                                                             cloudia

Pleasant Marsh

A  L  O  H  A !

PLEASE Click Away on these SHOTS:

" He who knows best 

knows how little

 he knows. "

Thomas Jefferson

" Humility does not mean

 thinking less of yourself

 than of other people, 

nor does it mean 

having a low opinion 

of your own gifts.

  It means freedom

 from thinking about 

yourself

 at all.  "

William Temple

" It wasn't until quite late in life

 that I discovered

 how easy it is

 to say

 "I don't know!"  

Somerset Maugham

" Too many people 

overvalue what they are not

 and undervalue 

what they

 are.  "

Malcolm S. Forbes

" All the birds have flown up and gone;
A lonely cloud floats leisurely by.
We never tire of looking at each other -
Only the mountain and I. "

Li Po

       (*)>
/ )
    /"             

The marshes

and the margins

have ever been

my comfort zone.

Queen of Uplift

because I need it

most.

Moving towards the 

Center

Tempting-

-but too soon

 swamped

by quicksand

of intransigence.

So back to the marshes

the margins;

No flags will half-staff

when I pass.

But I've known

Sunshine and

the Gold of Your

 Friendship -

Treasure indeed

for the voyage

ahead.

Thank you for being TREASURE!

comment?

                                         Warmly, cloudia

Gorgeous Normal Waikiki

A  L  O  H  A !

It's FRIDAY- All Aphorisms MUST go- Make an OFFER

Photo Clicking Encouraged

BEST weather on the planet is BACK!

You needn't be exhausted

 to rest.

 In fact exhaustion

 interferes

 with sleep and recovery

The SUN is a drug!

When working and visiting 

on-line,

get up, wave your arms

about,

and walk around the room

every 20 minutes - 

at LEAST!

And the Skies EXHILARATE!   Fill your lungs with THAT!

Life is a gift!

But it's 

NOT

an   I O U

( "I owe you" )

Mountains! How can anyone be happy without mountains?

An ill-considered remark

can shake the very ground

of amity.

Is it WORTH it?

Every day is the first day of someone's vacation (holiday). 

 Feel the joy?

It's just the magic of Waikiki ! 

Routines of daily life:

so tiresome, repetitive,

indispensable,

and in the end:

dear-




                                 >< } } ( ° >

 >< } } ( ° >

Thank YOU so much

 for sharing your valuable time 

here with us!

Comments & simple "hellos" are appreciated-

                                                   Warmly, cloudia

All Hawaii Celebrates!

The Great Voyaging Canoe

 that Hawaiians first sailed to pride and knowledge 37 years ago
TODAY

 is afloat again 

and planning a

 round the world cruise!

Punk - Tuation

A  L  O  H  A !

" The mystery of life

 is not a problem

 to be solved

but a reality

 to be experienced. "

 Art Van Der Leeuw

 " And it shall come to pass,

 when I bring a cloud 

over the earth,

that the bow shall be seen

 in the cloud; "

 Genesis 9:14

" The soul of sweet delight, 

can never be defiled. "

William Blake

" Inside my empty bottle 

I was constructing a lighthouse

 while all the others 

were making ships.  "

Charles Simic 

 ><}>( ° >

A Period is basic.

And simple.

The end of one

idea.

The Question Mark

meanders around

before it finds it's way

down

to the root of things,

where it balances

on a ball-

like a seal-

And claps.

Exclamation Point:

when you throw a can of paint

across mother's floor,

it makes a shocking line

that points right

to the thrower:

you!

The look on mother's face

is the meaning

of the exclamation

point.

And she may point

 also.

Comma,

catch a breath.

And a Semi-Colon

is a comma

with a graduate degree.

This is the deep truth

that  I understand 

of these

 "marks."

The rules of grammar

 were written

to try and explain

the greatness

in the speech

 of talented people.

But it always gets away

from the rules-types

like lightening escapes

the jar they try to put it in.

'Exception that proves the rule'

my elbo!

I always understood

that I had that spark.

Like brown hair. 

Spoke and wrote

beautifully

just knowing

what would sound

and say it

best.

So I never bothered  

with the rules,

and still do not know them

today.

I am a writer

not a grammarian.

Aren't YOU

glad?!

Join us in comments and

'say what'

                        Fondly, cloudia