SAM in the earthquake

USGS map as of March 13...all the earthquakes since Wednesday the 9th when we had a 7.2 at 11:45 am local time.

March 12 2011: As you know doubt know by now a monster earthquake rocked Japan on Friday March 13, 2011 2:46pm local time. As with a lot of momentous occasions in life, this is one that SAM will always know our exact place at the time of the earthquake.

Andi was at school, just finishing up her safety patrol duties. I was in the parking lot about 75 yards away from the school waiting for her.

The shake and the rumble of the ground was just incredible. Since I was in an open area, I got out of my car (it was bouncing just a wee bit too much for me) and went over to a group of 6th graders who had gathered to shoot the breeze. Made sure they were all right and safe.

After the shaking stopped I went up to the school. Andi came down the sidewalk with another mom and her child. Andi was inside the school at the time, at the top of the stairs (2nd floor) on her way out when it started. She and a classmate ran down the stairs and out the building, waiting outside til it was done. How proud I am of her for keeping her wits about her.

By the time she could see me, her little face crumpled into tears. Back in the car we went. Shane was able to get a call into us about 10 minutes later. He had just pulled into the driveway and found the house still standing. He was at a stoplight on the way home when the quake occurred. Since he was home and the house standing, Andi and I headed for home. Not a bad drive, considering the stoplights were out and major intersections were an exercise in patience. Took us about 30 minutes (usually a 10 minute drive) to get home. Safe and sound. Checked on our neighbors and found them all rattled but well.

Aftershocks have been our story for the weekend. The biggest "inconvenience" was the loss of power. When we learned the magnitude of the earthquake, loss of power was nothing. We had our health, our family unit, and plenty of food and water.

The base opened the commissary, so we were able to stock up on more water.

Andi's biggest complaint was no Scooby Doo shows to watch. But mom reading more than made up for it. We lost ourselves in the world of Narnia with "The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe".
Sunday the 13th power was restored to our little corner of Japan. Well, to those of us living out in town. On base...not so much. We'd been hearing the reports of the tsunami wave and the damage it brought. We tried to get down to the local fishery report, but it is closed with guards turning people away before you can even see the water line. Driving up the coast just a little bit to a shrine that I know has a lookout point we came across the coke machine in the field. Hard to say where it came from, as vending machines in odd places in Japan really isn't out of the norm....lying on its side is of course not normal.

Above, some standing water left over. The ocean is about 200 yards to the left, and down a hill side.
Water mark left behind. We are at the shrine that sits atop this hillside by the ocean. That's the ocean out in the distance. (there are pictures of this shrine from way back in July 2009, but I couldn't find any pictures that would help reference this)
Below: a shot climbing back up from the sea wall area back up to the shrine. Trying to give you an idea as to the height from the sea to the look out point.

This used to be a pine forest, with the trees in more of an upright position. The trees have been thinned out a bit, and the ones standing are obviously leaning more than they had before.
That gap there.....yeah, not supposed to be a gap. The sea walls are pretty sturdy things...but now...

We walked down to the sea wall, but not to the big breach area. This is the area behind it. Last time I came here there was a little road, trees on one side and not a big 6 foot deep trench.

A small boat washed up in the trees. There is so much trash everywhere now. Incredible. Though there is always a bit of trash along the coast line, but now there's a lot. Understandable of course.
Another boat washed up on the sea wall.
The rocks that you see there in between the concrete blocks (above picture) those were from the area on the other side of the wall....those are some big rocks.
Above: The slabs are from the gutter system. The hole to the left is where one of the slabs should be. Water surging in the system must've just shot them right up and out.

Now I know there are plenty of images on the news. It's been hard to find any of Misawa Fishery Port at the moment, but from I understand it is destroyed. As much as I would love to go get pictures, I do want to stay safe and out of the way of recovery efforts. Since the beach is right next to the port, I assume that is in bad shape as well...a shame, it is one of my favorite spots. Plus we do have occasional warnings of more tsunami's depending on the size of the aftershocks. Since those are happening all the time, the ocean is the last place I really want to be.

I pulled some pictures from various news agencies. None of the pictures below are mine....they are all from the internet through AP and other sources.
Above: Hachinohe. One of the many ports. I understand this is also heavily damaged.

Apparently I didn't mark the location of the photos when I pulled them over from the internet (thought I did...) But most are from the Sendai area. (which includes the various little villages and towns around it)


Above: Hachinohe

I'll update the blog as I can.(a quick email or phone call to the folks home always takes priority) It may not always be with pictures.

Since our language is not up to par, we have to rely on the American media to keep us up to date....at times you may know more than we do. Keep in mind we are a couple hundred miles North of Sendai. The power plant may become a bigger issue, but for now, for us here, we are ok.

"Life is not the way it's supposed to be....It's the way it is. The way we cope with it is what makes the difference." I have no idea who that is from, but it's what I keep looking at today.

The Earth Shook!

March 13 2010: Hello All! We are safe and accounted for in our family! The earthquake hit us at 2:46 pm Friday the 11th. I was fortunately up at Andi's school to pick her up from an after school activity. We were separated during the quake (she up at the school, me in the parking lot about 50 yards away). So I was able to get to her right away. We were able to make our way home (no power through out the base or in town) where we joined back up with Shane.
We've been together in our cold house (which we are NOT complaining about) since then. The tsunami wave didn't reach us (we live about 5 miles inland) but from what we understand the fishing port has been wiped out.
Power came back up this morning (Sunday morning at 3:20am).
Right now I have no pictures to post, as we've been staying out of harms way. But perhaps today we will venture out a little bit and see what pictures we can get.
We've had a LOT of aftershocks (about 250) since Friday afternoon. Some have over 6. I woke this morning to a 6.0, and then woke again a bit later to the sound of the power coming back.
Our thoughts and prayers are with all those who are affected in this wonderful country.
I'll post pictures when I get some, but for now we're safe.

March 8 2011

Well, something new today....go do the jigsaw! It'll be up for awhile. Trying something new with the layout, a work in progress if you will.
And yes, this would mean that the dull grayness of winter is hanging on here as well. Just with no snow. (which after watching newscasts from the states, I'm not really going to say "wish I was there")
Enjoy! And remember.....work in progress!

Did we get out????

February 28 2011: OMH!!! (which hopefully means: oh my heck!) we actually got out of the house. Not a great distance, just 'round the corner and down the coastal road about 5 minutes. I have recalled seeing a sign for some sort of beach for many a journey now and always tuck it away to the back of my mind "for another day". Well, that day arrived. Saturday the 26th started out as a bit snowy (a wet snow that didn't last) and by afternoon I needed to get out of the house.
Found the turnoff, after a having to do a double back. Shane and Andi were actually taking bets as to whether I really knew if this place existed. (I know it did, just because they've never noticed the sign for it doesn't mean anything). Anyway, found the turn off. Found the beach. Found that nobody had brought along an appropriate jacket for walking the beach in the dead of winter. Perhaps I should've warned them that heavier jackets might be in order.....not that my windbreaker did much good. Plus it does look a bit desolate in the winter. For example, the watch tower below, not sure if it is a life station, or some sort of other warning system watch tower. It was too cold to walk that far down the walk way. (all of 50 yards, but when the cold wind is blowing off the ocean, it might as well be at least 100 yards)

Above: Andi in full "japanese camera picture taking mode", me, I'm just concentrating on looking thin and young. (I'm still waiting....how long should I hold the pose?)

Below: A view through the trees at some "dry docked" fishing vessels and the beach marker.

Above: Rules of the beach. Oh, this might take some figuring out. I'm assuming that since "x"'s are on the simmers, it must be no swimming....or is it no lap swimming. It is an open beach...not protected by a seawall, so I'm assuming no swimming. Obviously we'll find out this summer, when we return in warmer weather.
Above: Decorative lamp posts. I like it when lamp posts have a theme. Makes them more quaint. (statements like that remind me that I must be growing older....where did this woman come from?)

Below: Map of "where are we". I don't know. If you enlarge the picture, I believe we are up towards the top right where the people are throwing in the fishing nets. I do know we are definitely north of the road split. (I know this as that's where we turned around for our double back)
So, it was a short outing. But thank heavens we got out! Life continues onward! (I wish it would slow down just a tad) Now, if the weather can keep up its warming trend then perhaps I can venture out to the Japanese bike shop and purchase my new bicycle. And of course this means I'll have to use it. Oy vey! How much exercise can I possibly get...pedal, pedal, pedal...stop, take picture, pant, pant, pedal, pedal, pedal...etc.

(and drat it all, my spell check for blogger doesn't seem to be working....let's hope I caught most of the mistakes!)

Out and about in Norway?

February 21 2011- Another blah week falls behind us, and looks like another approaches. The weather has been gray and bleak. No snow, so the nasty gray stuff is hanging around. Did get some rain to wash some of the yuckiness away. We've all been fighting colds this week, so have spent most of the weekend lounging about.

And with a synopsis like that, surely it means a lack of photos for this weeks blog.

But have no fear.....We will go on another vacation this week! Once again living vicariously through others lives on!

A little background, in August, my mother, sister and niece took a trip to Norway to visit cousins. My mother's side of the family come from good Norwegian stock. (well, I'm sure we could dissect that sentence as to which side of my mother's side and all that, but we shan't go there....another project to put in my mind....a blog of nothing but genealogy, that'll keep me busy).

Anyway, their trip was in August, hence the greenness of the country!

Above: The Red Mill in Tau. Tau is a small village and a good part owned by the Tau Family. This is an old flour mill.

Below: Home of the Tau's (the cousin) in the village of Tau. Also once the home of my great great grandparents. (it is nice that some things have stayed in the family)

Above: Downtown Stavanger. (note the name of the store "Japan Photo")

Below: Stavanger Domkirke. A very old cathedral. Building of it started around 1100 and finished around 1125. It is very ornate inside. It's not the "family church" but it is where my cousin and his wife were married.

Above: Oh look! A Norwegian version of a flying rat!

Below: A small town along a fjord. My tour guide for the photos was unable to remember the name of the town.

Above: Jorpeland, about 7 miles from Tau.

Below: "A tourist trap" says the cousin. Near a recreated village called Landau.

My mother and the traveling troupe took a car ferry. I am wondering at how safe it is to have to evacuate the ferry. I guess you just have to hope that you can get out of the way of the next incoming human....(above)

Below: Lighthouse taken from the car ferry in the North Sea en route to Skudeneshaven. (boy, spell check is just having a fit with me today)

Above: Lysefjord. Taken from the car ferry.

Below: A home along Lysefjord. The only place where some lives year round...thinks the tour guide (the tour guide being my mother)

Above: Katie in the large chair at Hjelmeland. (though really, this branch of Norwegians, with their stout legs, look like this sitting in any chair)

Below: Katie, Tova and Cousin Ole-Per at the Harsfjord memorial near Stavanger.

Above: This memorial commemorates the Battle of Hafrsjord in 872 after which Harald Fairhair united the 3 districts of Norway. The crowns represent the 3 districts.
Above taken in August 2010, below taken in probably the 1950's (I may have to correct that). The big building is Tou Mille (Tau Mill), where great grandfather Ole Torgersen worked in his early teens. The pictures were taken from Torger's Mountain. Torger Torgersen (Tau) owned this mountain, hence the name. It is still in the family.
And so a brief explanation of the name, Torgersen/Tau: Ole Torgersen Tau...son of Torger from the town of Tau. Upon coming to America my great grandfather dropped the "Tau" as it was hard to pronounce and "not needed". When his son Torger (my grandfather's brother) returned to Norway, he reclaimed the surname of Tau. (confused yet?? you should try doing the genealogy for this....thank goodness Cousin Tom already did!)

So that concludes today's vacation. Don't know where we are going next week. One can only hope that we actually get out of the house next week. If only the sidewalks were free of ice, it would be fine walking weather as the sun has been out, the sky blue and flying rats abound.

February 14 2011

February 14 2011: Ahhh, holidays in Japan. There is always a new twist to them. This last week as we were wandering about at the mall, we came to little independent store with fresh fruits, veggies and other unidentified stuffs. Locally grown stuff at this time of year are raised in greenhouses. The apple was just to cute to pass up, and cheap enough for an early treat. The apple is really rather big...6inches from stem to stem. and 13inches in circumference. That'll be a meal unto itself! And oh yeah, they are good!
There hasn't been a lot of snow lately. Last weekend (the 5th) I had promised Andi I would help build a snowman. But alas, not enough snow to even make a snow angel. Thankfully (?) her cousin had sent "snow in a can" Just add water. It sounds rather gross, but it's the stuff that's inside diapers (unused of course), add the water and it absorbs and becomes this "snow" like consistency. We couldn't build a snowman as pictured on the can, so did our own version.

But oh, thank goodness, there's been snow falling off and on this past week.
Out we went on Saturday (the 12th) to work on our snowman. Couldn't do it the traditional way of rolling, as the snow wasn't the right consistency. And, there's only a couple of inches on the ground. But with good ol' determination, a shovel and a sled, we were able to haul enough snow to the build site. It was made a little easier when I realized that there was a huge pile of fresh snow that had just slid off the roof. (thank goodness for metal roofs!)
Andi insisted on taking a picture of me with our creation. He is still standing today, though minus his eyes, nose and mouth. Guess he melted a bit this morning. (we used rocks, so we know the big black flying rats didn't feast on him!)

Not that busy of a week (again). On the upside we have our truck (SUV) back! It was totaled by the insurance. So we get the insured amount, the mechanic did a cheap (sort of) repair, and we buy the truck back from the insurance company for the price of 5000Y (about $60). And we can re-insure it again....go figure. The repairs aren't pretty, but it's enough to keep Shane off the streets and Andi in her after school activities. I don't have pictures of the the new doors yet, but I'm sure there will be at some point.

A long day

The van that hit Shane.....(keep going for the rest of the story....)

February 6 2011: Well, it hasn't been just a long week, but the 2nd was also a long day! Shane went off to work, and called me 10 minutes later to announce his accident.....excuse me "Motor Vehicle Collision". It's no longer "accident" as that implies something to do with intent, or lack thereof....(as it was explained to Shane) Personally, I thought an accident was just that, lack of intent, didn't meant to do it. Anyway, it was an icy, icy morning. Shane wasn't going very fast, about 20KPH, if that, decelerated for turning traffic, and went skidding off. He did try for a clear spot to get off the road, just to end up being broadsided. It was a Japanese driver. So, had to wait around for Misawa City police and for the base to send out security forces with a translator. In the end it'll be Shane's fault...never mind that there was ice and snow everywhere and that the other driver was probably going much faster (he was headed downhill) he's the American and there are some locals who feel "if the Americans weren't here, this never would've happened".
Fortunately, we do have insurance. Not sure how much Yen the other vehicle will cost to fix, but that's what the insurance is for. On the down side, our truck has been pronounced totaled. Which in Japan, just means the insurance company won't fix it. We get our money. And we can pay the mechanic to fix it anyway (which he has kindly offered to do....a couple of mismatched doors, and possibly some of those doors won't open, but it'll run)

And yes, Shane is ok (a slight stiff neck) and the driver of the other vehicle appeared fine and declined going to the hospital.

And that's the short, short version of the week. Thinking of it all makes me tired, so we'll leave it at that.

So it was a long week.

Last year at this time we took a little detour on the blog and went to Panama. Well guess what! I've been watching the news, it's been a long cold winter everywhere and I think we all need a little time to day dream....so some more pictures have been provided. And a link!

www.chrismoreland.com/Panama_Newsletter.html

ahhh.....sunshine! fresh breezes! What? I have to open my eyes and return to reality? Drat!