Tsunami Takes

I'm dreaming peacefully and ever so thrilled to be cuddled up in the bed with Kendo kitty snoring beside of me. It's Saturday after all...a day for snoozing and recovering from staying up way to late watching the Olympics. My bliss would end with hearing an odd echoing announcement that I couldn't deny being a military announcement. Although I did try to tune it out for a moment until I could clearly make out the following: "all water areas around Pearl Harbor are off limits, stay indoors, the bridge..." then it went to a incomprehensible ricocheting sound. The phone rang right after the silence of hearing what would be happening to the bridge.

"Hello?" I spoke groggily into the phone.
"SQ, the bridge is closing at 0830. A tsunami is heading this way...y'all need to get out of the house."
My heartbeat quickened as I tried to wipe the sleep from my eyes.
Tsunami? Earthquake? Bridge closure? What in the world did I wake up to?

I hung up the phone and just as I began to shout to HH, the phone rang again. This time it was from another friend on island and her message was pretty akin to the previous one. I hung up in disbelief.

"Ummmm...honey....what's going on?" I inquired.
"There's been an earthquake in Chile...we have the potential of being hit by a tsunami. Pack a few items and let's get to higher ground."
Good grief. It's not a dream.

Pack? The moment that everyone dreads in an emergency state was happening to us. Although we knew that the threat more than likely wouldn't amount to anything, it is still the issue that you must take stock of what is truly important enough to leave the house in your hands.

So, what did I take? LD, HS, HH, our personal affairs folders, set of clothes for each family member, diapers, tooth brushes and toothpaste, laptop, external hard drive full of pictures, and one nervous kitty.

By the time we arrived to our friend's home on slightly higher ground, Kendo had already foamed at the mouth, vomited, urinated, and was on his way to having a full out nervous breakdown.

Our tsunami party was great fun. We all joked that we've wanted to get together for dinner for the past couple of months. The threat of a tsunami brought us all together for an awesome day of laughs and eating. For one clan member, the relief of being carried back into his home would find him snoring on the sofa, happy that he was a tsunami take, but relieved that he could stop foaming.

Note: Although we found out later that yes, the bridge was secured but that we were not in the evacuation zone, we are still nonetheless, glad that we have been able to prove to ourselves that in a state of emergency, we could depart this hale in less than 30 minutes. Let's just hope we won't be proving our efficiency anytime soon.