Tsunami Sirens: What we do before we can't do anything but wait..

After I'd put the kids to bed, my plan tonight was to finish folding laundry.  If there was time, I'd hoped to make that reservation for our Anniversary. 

Instead, I lined up behind a steady stream of cars to fill the gas tank. While I waited, I read the just-in-case-I-need-it book that I stash in my purse.  Carry baby wipes and an extra book in your purse at all times, that my Motherhood Motto.  Chances are, you'll need the wipes to scrape off the crust that the kids threw in your purse, but that landed on the book you someday hope to read.  Thanks to a tsunami warning, and an impressively long line at the gas station, tonight was my lucky night to reach for the book, instead of the wipes.  And who says nothing good comes from a state of emergency?   

Pedestrians passed, toting backpacks and a sleeping bag under their arm.  They walked in the direction of the park, headed for higher ground.  Mr. Forget-me-not already hit the grocery store, to buy an extra flat of water, just in case.    

When I returned home from the gas station, we checked flash lights.  Then I filled up the bathtub, washed the last of the dirty laundry, gathered empty bleech bottles, coolers, and every empty water bottle in the house and filled those up, too.  Even with that, it never feels like we'd ever have enough water in the event of an emergency.

To my surprise, the kids have slept through the unexpected commotion and the blare of the tsunami siren all around us.  So apparently their selective hearing loss extends beyond when they can't (read: don't want to) hear me.  Now that's comforting.   

And now we wait.  And watch.  And pray for those who have already lost so much in Japan.  And hope that the tsunami passes over our little island. 

Always on the grow,