California Fever

Deep Impact

I subscribe to a NASA email newsletter.  Today's issue featured a link to an article on the spacecraft called Deep Impact which will (intentionally) collide with a comet on July 4th.  Wow.  The real stuff--way better than a movie.  The purpose of this misson is to study what goes on inside a comet. 

It occurred to me as I was reading the article (and coming on the heels of my previous post) that maybe I need to do a little Deep Impact mission of my own.  Maybe I need to intentionally collide with my insides--to see what I'm made of (in terms of my heart's desire).  I'm abundantly clear on what I don't want--just hearing a big void of silence when I try to 'hear' what I do want.  And yet... 

Maybe my questions aren't clear.  In Your Heart's Desire, Sonia Choquette uses the example of a female client who came up to her during a workshop break and said she thought she should leave--that all of the other participants were so clear on what they wanted, but she had no idea about what she wanted.  By narrowing down what was missing from her life, Choquette was able to help her see that what she really wanted was some fun.  That was her heart's desire--some freedom from (and help with) familial responsibilities.  Sometimes our heart's desires don't have grand and lofty labels.

It dawned on me today that what I want is money (to cover expenses).  I don't want a job.  I want some money so I can stop worryinig about our dwindling bank balances.  Maybe I need to stop focusing on "job" and start focusing on "money."  Because there are other sources of money...like that lottery ticket I just cashed for a small winning...or the $100 I won from the laundromat (in their monthly drawing) last week.  And gigs!  :) 

We borrowed my brother's pickup late this afternoon to go to Lowe's in Vacaville to buy some lunber.  Boyfriend's going to build a work bench in the garage tomorrow.  After we returned the pickup, I suggested we stop by our favorite Chinese restaurant, which happens to be in Dixon.  We've been there many times since moving here.  It's a tiny place, but the food's great and the woman who waits tables (she might also be an owner) is very sweet.  As if I needed yet another message from the universe, my fortune said, "Stop seeking and you will find what you're looking for."  :)

tsunamis

There are a couple of interesting articles in today's San Francisco Chronicle about the research scientists are doing in an effort to try to predict future tsunamis.  They're taking soil samples from coastlines around the world and looking at the sandy layers left by tsunamis.  In one article, they mention a 30-inch column which was excavated from the beach in my hometown.  We got slammed by a tsunami in 1964, which was a byproduct a huge earthquake in Anchorage.  What's scary is that the '64 tsunami was apparently a trickle compared to a monster wave that slammed the West Coast in 1700.  The '64 wave left a 3/4" thick layer, while the 1700 tsunami left a 6-inch layer.  Egads.  There was also a 1960 tsunami that left a 1/2" layer of sand.  I don't remember that one...but then I was too traumatized that year by the arrival of my little brother who destroyed the blissful only child universe I'd inhabited for five years.

Here's the link to the article mentioning the research done with the sandy layers in my hometown.  Click the chart to enlarge it.  And here's the other article saying that if a 9.0 earthquake hits the Pacific Northwest, the entire West Coast is gonna be wet.  The second article has a photo of part of the downtown area in my hometown after the '64 tsunami.

It didn't take December 26, 2004 to make me aware of the power and danger of tsunamis--I grew up with that awareness.  The '64 tidal wave can't be compared to last year's disaster, because as disasters go, it was small in comparison.  But I'd venture to say that those of us who lived through it were probably more aware of the danger of tsunamis than any other Americans were before last year's Asian tsunami.  The '64 wave wiped out our entire downtown.  When the city rebuilt, the main street was moved to 3rd Street from 2nd Street.  Our home was untouched--we lived on 8th street and the wave(s) didn't go much past 4th Street.  It's hard for me to believe that was 41 years ago...I'll certainly never forget it.

Indonesian Quake

Those poor, poor people in Indonesia...as if they haven't been traumatized enough already.  Now an 8.2 (preliminary) quake has hit the area.  That magnitude alone would traumatize anyone.  (I was in the Loma Prieta quake in San Francisco in '89 and THAT was scary.)  Some local governments have  now issued tsunami warnings. 

Gaia must be really pissed off at what we've done to her.  But it hardly seems fair to keep punishing the people of Indonesia.