JAPAN

As I sit here warm and comfy in my studio at the computer, sunlight streaming through the windows and glinting off the melting snow; I'm somewhat shaken by what I've just seen in regards to the earthquake and tsunami, which struck Japan with more force than the atom bomb that exploded on Hiroshima during WWII.  And, depending on whether or not the Japanese can get a handle on their damaged nuclear facilities; the leaking radiation may take even more of a toll.  I know I shouldn't be laughing; it's hardly humorous; but when I think about the scientists and engineers that erect these deadly edifices and consider the possibility of a natural disaster such as an earthquake or a tsunami, they really don't have any idea about the amount of power, which can be generated and unleashed at any moment by our planet Earth.

Mankind is so fickle to believe that we can control or withstand the fury that Nature can unleash; I swear our ego must be inflated from methane that escapes our anal cavity via invisible tubes, which are attached from our asses to our brains.  I have sailed across the vast North Pacific Ocean aboard a tiny sailboat, which in comparison to a flea on a dog's back would not even be as large in size.  We sailed among rolling 30' waves and when the boat was down amidst the troughs; moving walls of water, higher than the top of the mast, surrounding us, the power and strength of the sea could not be ignored; I was humbled.  The Titanic is a good example of our stupidity when they said it was "unsinkable".  Imagine that; unsinkable; the sheer stupidity of such a statement is astounding.  Our planet, and there are obvious clues strewn about the Earth to remind us just how fragile our existence is; dinosaurs, larger than any species of animals that now roam in their footsteps, which were once prolific; no longer exist.  Something more dangerous and powerful than what hit the coast of Japan once enveloped our world and destroyed most everything.  And what worries me, is whatever catastrophe occurred then, will most likely happen again.

As my eyes took in the completely devastated Japanese villages and towns; people poking through the rubble in search of loved ones; not even being able to recognize the streets they once lived on, let alone their dwellings; I closed my eyes for a few moments and realized that even though I'm safe and sound; in a moment, a blink of the eye; everything that is important to me: family, home and environment could suddenly disappear.  I'm not sure that I would want to be a survivor if that were to happen - just moving across Canada at the age of soon to be 70, realizing that the likelihood of never seeing good friends and loved ones again on the other side, was traumatic enough.  The adjustment from living on Vancouver Island to now living at the base of Green Mountain in New Brunswick has been relatively easy but the adjustments of the Japanese survivors, who escaped with only the clothes they were wearing; I can't even imagine how difficult it would be.

I tried imagining myself in such a tragic position; my clothes soaking wet, scrabbling through the muck and busted building that was once my home, trying to dig my wife and kids out if they hadn't been washed away by the tsunami; and not finding them.  Sitting on my haunches, swaying back and forth, teary eyes looking up at the heavens, wondering why I was spared and where to go from there must be truly bewildering.  No longer any shelter, nothing to drink or eat; no smiles nor even a family argument to make you feel as if you were still in the land of the living.  Despair after such an enormous catastrophe must weigh like the weight of the world on one's shoulders - thankful to be still alive - yet wondering if life would soon end and would it be worthwhile if one did manage to survive.  Imagine, standing alone in the dripping wet ruins; no other survivors nearby; no communication whatsoever - one might well imagine that what happened to them, happened the world over.  What would you do?  What would I do under those circumstances?  Let us hope and pray that never occurs.  And yet, as I learn on a daily basis about the ice melting, oceans rising, crops failing, rivers and lakes being polluted, forests disappearing, unable to breathe the air and the extinction of yet another species of life; the earthquake and tsunami that destroyed a fair amount of Japan seems like a mere drop of rain in the valley of hope or should I say hopelessness.

I have no idea if any of the people who read this Blog are Japanese, but if so, I would like to extend my deepest sympathy for your losses and to anyone else who has survived such a Holocaust - may your God bless.