The rain rain rain came down down down
It's raining here at PLNU. As I type this the soft pattering of droplets against my window I am reminded of a saying I heard not to long ago. "The cure for anything is a mixture of salt and water- sweat, tears, or the sea." But as wave after wave of destruction hits the coast of Japan, the very waves that offer me such calm each day when I glance to the west I wonder if salt and water is not only a cure, but also a curse.
In rushing, rising riv'lets
What many people don't know is that a tsunami is actually not one huge wave, it is a series of waves that hit one after the other. How many times has the phrase "trouble comes in threes" been uttered? For Japan, it's true. The tsunami that caused so much destruction there, was a spectacle here. People grabbed their boards, jumped in their cars and headed to the coast, video cameras in tow hoping to catch their slice of the action. The morning after the tsunami my dad woke up and made his coffee as he does every morning. He sat down at the kitchen table, cereal on one side, coffee on the other, and computer in the middle. His home page is Surfline. As soon as he opened his web browser for the surf report his coffee and cereal were forgotten, found soggy by my mom and I hours later. He sprinted to the garage, grabbed his board and sped to the beach ready for what he hoped would be an awesome aftermath. How awful is that we find sport in their pain?
Til the river crept out of it's bed
In San Diego, the tsunami caused a high tide to occur in a matter of minutes that would normally take several hours. In Japan, the ocean left it's place in a much more violent and aggressive manner. Here, the ocean approached San Diego gently, caressing it awake with all the nurture of a mother easing their slumbering child into the new day. In Japan, the alarm went off with all the abruptness and obnoxiousness of a car alarm. Japan was slapped awake by frothy wave upon frothy wave. There was no easing Japan into the destruction that was about to happen.
And crept right into Piglet's
Did the waves really creep into Japan's coast. It seemed more like a charge from here.
Poor Piglet he was frightened
We were scared here when some boats came umoored in San Diego Harbor. Can you imagine the fright of having an entire building being swept out from under you? I can't.
Wednesday, March 23, 2011
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
The Stranger at the Game
On Wednesday night, I was waiting in the gym for my intramural basketball game to begin. I was nervous, as I always am when about to partake in an activity I know I am awful at. I wasn't exactly sure of what my team name was, or who exactly was on my team. I looked around and there was a girl, who appeared to have no more idea what to do with herself than I did. We drew towards each other, like moths to a flame, until finally we were close enough that I could ask her her name.
As it turned out Kara was there to watch her RA play, and her RA was on my team. As we talked she fiddled with her homemade sign made of washable Crayola marker, looking to her friend who had just arrived, clearly wanting out of the conversation she had just found herself in with me. I asked her why she came to the basketball game, and she told me her RA had given their hall the guilt trip about coming to watch her play. But she said it with a twinkle in her eye, the kind you get when you are outwardly bashing someone or something, but the care you have for them sparkles through the hazy sarcasm. She loves that about Loma, the fact that people will encourage each other and be there for each other. When I asked her if that was all she loved about Point Loma she responded that there were actually three reasons she chose PLNU. It is by the beach, she loves the Christian atmosphere, and there are friendly people. I thought that was interesting because it was those very things that drew me to this school. But once I was here, I initially had a hard time finding my place among the Christian atmosphere I had so looked forward to joining. When I asked her if it was the same way, she told me that she actually loved it so far. She told me that if she was going through something, all she had to do was go down her hall to find someone who was there for her and had probably gone through the same thing and could give her the encouragement she needed.
When the whistle blew for my game to begin, we shared a smile, the kind that implied we had just become the wave-across-caf-lane kind of friends. Once of us having found their place, and the other, still searching.
As it turned out Kara was there to watch her RA play, and her RA was on my team. As we talked she fiddled with her homemade sign made of washable Crayola marker, looking to her friend who had just arrived, clearly wanting out of the conversation she had just found herself in with me. I asked her why she came to the basketball game, and she told me her RA had given their hall the guilt trip about coming to watch her play. But she said it with a twinkle in her eye, the kind you get when you are outwardly bashing someone or something, but the care you have for them sparkles through the hazy sarcasm. She loves that about Loma, the fact that people will encourage each other and be there for each other. When I asked her if that was all she loved about Point Loma she responded that there were actually three reasons she chose PLNU. It is by the beach, she loves the Christian atmosphere, and there are friendly people. I thought that was interesting because it was those very things that drew me to this school. But once I was here, I initially had a hard time finding my place among the Christian atmosphere I had so looked forward to joining. When I asked her if it was the same way, she told me that she actually loved it so far. She told me that if she was going through something, all she had to do was go down her hall to find someone who was there for her and had probably gone through the same thing and could give her the encouragement she needed.
When the whistle blew for my game to begin, we shared a smile, the kind that implied we had just become the wave-across-caf-lane kind of friends. Once of us having found their place, and the other, still searching.
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