Quaking

Update: I wrote this post on Thursday and tonight (Saturday) we actually experienced another big one, this one for about two minutes. The first thing I did was grab the TV! We are all fine but I am definitely concerned about so much seismic activity! Prayers are always welcome! 

When we lived in Rochester, my favorite trees were the quaking aspens. We had three of them that leaned over our deck and it was my favorite view in the whole house, living right in the treetops and watching the trees clap their hands every time the slightest breeze came through.

Little did I know at that time that I would once again live a daily life surrounded by quaking, although in this case, it's the earth, not trees. 

A few days ago there was an earthquake, the third one that I've felt in three weeks. The two early ones were tremors that I only felt because I was on a relatively high floor in a hotel, and because I was sleeping. I woke up to the feeling of gently shimmying as if I were jello on a plate. It was almost relaxing, like the Earth had become a giant massage chair.

The last one was...not that. It was much more powerful and it was loud. Also, confusing. I had no idea what was happening, because, as luck would have it, we had just purchased a new TV and Tim and the guy were preparing to load it into our van. So my first thought was "Why they heck are they shaking the car so much? Is it stuck?" Then I heard the phones going off with the alerts and I figured it out. And obviously an earthquake WOULD hit right as we were about to load a brand new, highly breakable, and very expensive object into our van. Fortunately, all was well, and no TVs or people were harmed in the loading process. The older kids were at school. Belle's reaction was "It was not scary at all, because when I heard JI SHIN JI SHIN alert, I just hid under the table like I am supposed to" and Biggie's was "That did not happen." Typical. Pretty sure Biggie does not sit still long enough to notice an earthquake.

It is a weird thing to live in a place where the Earth might suddenly upend your entire life with no warning. It makes you aware that there is really only so much that is in your control. So you kiss your kids a lot, you secure your breakables, and you hope you're not in an elevator or on a high speed train or in the shower when it happens. Those things are not necessarily dangerous, but it would be inconvenient, for sure.

We are leaving Japan for the States next week, and I am frankly dreading it. Being sealed into a metal tube traveling at high altitudes is never my idea of a good time. Make it last about 14 hours with three highly active children and it sounds a great deal like hell to me. Still, once we are there  it should be nice. We are going to a wedding in NY first and then Tim will leave. We will visit my grandmother, who lives about an hour south of the wedding, and then my Mom and I will drive from NY to NC. Jet lag, formal affair where good behavior is required, and then a nice long road trip! What could possibly go wrong?!??!! And then we'll mostly just visit with my family and my friend Jen, whom I've been needing to see for about six  months now. And then I'll fly back. With the kids. From Washington DC to Tokyo. By myself. Cue the Carrie Underwood "Jesus, take the wheeeeeeeeeeelllllll". And also drugs. Cue those too.

In between packing and earthquake proofing and such, we are also missing my sister and her boyfriend who had a nice long visit to Japan. Sidenote: boyfriend is a horrible word and yet everything you could use in its place is even worse. Date? Too temporary. Partner? Weirdly businesslike. Lover? Awkward. Soulmate? Cheesy. Come on, guys, we can do better than boyfriend, right? I just have no idea how.

Anyway, Jordan and her notboynotfriend Adam came to visit and it was marvelous.Please ignore my finger covering part of the camera below. The kids adored their Auntie JoJo and Uncle Adam and are driving me crazy asking every single day if they are coming back to Japan "to be part of our family again". We may possibly get to see them again in NY, so that would make everyone very happy.




I will have to write about the details of our visit in tomorrow's post, but for now, I will just say that it was great to see them again, and hard to say goodbye. And here is a weird little secret that is already known by anyone who has spent a great deal of time away from family: you almost dread visits. It's not because you don't want to see them...of course you do!...it's just that saying goodbye is like ripping off a Band-Aid. It stings a little bit and you have to regrow your thick "I can do daily life without you if I have to" skin. Still, you wouldn't miss it, even if you have a sort of physical soreness afterward. Life quickly sucks you back in and you move on, with more memories and a closer bond, and generally more appreciation for the people your "little" siblings are becoming in their time on their own. Both of my sisters have visited us in Japan and I hope both of them will be able to return before we leave. It's just so fun to be with them and we miss them a lot when we're apart. Both of the big kids have asked me, apropos of nothing, "Hey, Mom, do you miss your sister Jojo right now?"...which is my biggest indication that THEY miss Aunt Jo. Well, that and the fact that Biggie has tenderly made an extremely small bed beside his own for "the next time Uncle Adam visits, so he can sleep with me." It is about the right size for a small dog, so ...good luck with that, Adam! Should be super comfy.