I'm Glad We Don't Do That At Home

Yes indeed, we're back safe & sound into our condo. No tsunami, no big waves, nothing. Thank heavens.

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We woke up this morning when the tsunami alarm went off - and I tell you, I have never heard anything louder. Ever. It's only a little ways off from our balcony, and we sleep with the windows open. Scaaaaaaary. The charge of adrenalin was astonishing; we got the babies into the loft level, then turned on the tv to see what was up.

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(The klaxon. If you've ever heard an air-raid siren up close & personal, you can imagine this noise. Otherwise, just imagine a fire engine, but at least four times closer, with a steady peak of noise.)

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Oh. Five & a half hours. Don't panic, check the phone book to see if you're in a submersion zone, pack 5-7 days of food & water. Okay. Let's... get dressed, get fed, get packed - all the dry food we have, all the refilled lemonade jugs, the diapers & wipes, all the kid's stuff, all my clean underwear & one change of clothes, and two knitting projects & my newest little spindle. And a couple books. I figured that whatever happened, there would be some waiting.

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Amoryn was out on the deck coloring when the alarm went off again - poor little thing. Scared several inches off of her growth; good thing I think she's got some height to spare. Eleni was actually awake the second time the alarm went (she slept through the first one), and it scared her too. (Also scared the crap out of the grownups.) By 8:45 (after the third klaxon), we pulled out of dodge & headed uphill.

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It'd be a lot better story if it was a dark & stormy day; it would've been a lot more comfortable if it had been even a little cloudy. However, it was a beautiful sunny day, with not a cloud in sight. From our view on the side of the highway (a very wide shoulder, as close to shade as we could manage) the ocean was a truly heavenly blue; and there were no portapotties and not much breeze.

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(The view, sans tsunami.)

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And we waited. We listened to talk radio; we set up the sun tent; we broke out the water bottles, the books, the toys, the portable dvd. I did a very little bit of spinning on my new Jenkins; it's adorable. The baby slept, and ate, and slept again.

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(Aerial view of the tent. Eleni is asleep amidst the toys.)

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We moved the tent as the sun moved around. The trees were super interesting - kind of an evergreen, I think, but with really fine needles. Sadly, their interesting qualities did not encompass casting shade.

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Five hours later, we decided to go back to the condo. The all clear hadn't sounded, but there were no big waves, and the condo is on the second floor. Amoryn was getting really hot; and we were all exhausted, and the whales were playing really close to the shore. Mom & I figured if they were in that close, nothing bad was going to happen.

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And so far, nothing has. Everything has been unpacked, the man is off grilling fish (fresh tuna some local thing called, umm, something). And we are all exhausted. I almost feel like I've had a long tattoo session - that long fighting the fight-or-flight reflex is wearying. I'm going to go & curl up with my fruity drink and wait for super.

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(Tomorrow: I really am going to talk about knitting on the beach! And also, hm. Something else that I've already forgotten? Ah yes! My groovy new little spindle!)