There never really is a summer here. But then again there isn't a winter. This season change has squirrels running around stashing away nuts for rainy days. Squirrels are smarter than people.  I was reading more in the paper the arguments pro and con about building a desalination plant. They have put it off for many years but now time is running out. 

I notice people do that a lot: put things off until they have no choice but to do something. It is most obvious in the big things like running out of water. We don't have a sense of urgency until it's an emergency. There are those few who have stored years of food, pack-ratted away extra everythings just in case. It's never been my style until now. 

I actually am putting aside my earthquake stash but not for a natural disaster but because I just think there are going to be weird shortages of things. Not necessarily food but other things. There was another article about shortages of some generic drugs for cancer and heart conditions. The companies just stopped making them because they weren't profitable. 

That reminded me of trips to Mexico on vacation. Some people bring back bad souvenirs. Me, I brought back drugs of all kinds including antibiotics. Sounds crazy, I know, given that I prefer herbal remedies. But I can grow herbs. I can't grow Penicillin. I have them stowed away in the refrigerator for when the day comes when someone I love will need them and can't get them.

Water, I think is a much bigger problem. Much bigger.

The local paper the Santa Cruz Sentinel did better coverage of the Tsunami online than in the print paper. Is this a sign of the times? Citizen journalists contributed their camcorder videos to cover the event. 

I have never seen a tsunami alert before in California. David called me at 6:00 AM this morning from the UK to ask if I was ok.  At first I ignored the call until he called back on my cell. Then I knew it was somebody who knew me personally not another client lost in a timezone glitch.

That was the first I knew of this terrible natural disaster. I went to bed early Thursday night as it had been a long and stressful day. The quake hit Japan around 11:30 PM PST. I am really grateful that friends and family let  me sleep through the night. However, I am going to change my cellphone number as its area code is not Santa Cruz. I never got the reverse 911 warning for 831 area code.

This so reminds me of the 1989 earthquake in Northern California. The aftermath is that you feel like you are having an out-of-body experience. It was a surreal day. The warning sign over Highway One freeway wasn't about snow at the summit, or another Amber alert, or accident warning. It said in big neon letters, "Tsunami alert still in effect until midnight". 

You can imagine how that slowed traffic. 

I went down to the small boat harbor to see the damage as BBC International kept talking about Santa Cruz damage and showing helicopter views of boats wandering around having lost their moorings. 

I can relate as I had just come from an acupuncture appointment and was not entirely grounded in reality myself. I figured, why not go see the waves?

The police became immediately photogenic and cooperative when I said the photos were for Internet TV. Then the real news showed up: ABC. The problem was there was really nothing to see as the damaged boats had sunk. The harbor was closed and the police were concerned that more significant waves would come in and flood out my favorite breakfast haunt, Aldo's. 

I pray for Japan.