Tsunami

The 2004 tsunami still bothers me. I can't exactly say how, but the sheer insidiousness of it bothers me. I think I mentioned in some post a while back that while I was in Senegal in 1975, a whole passel of freak-sized waves, some over forty feet, slammed into the beach not far from my apartment building. I know you see stuff on TV, like in "Rogue Nature" or some shit, but these waves would have capsized cruise ships. EASILY.

I was awed, and I was just a kid. The fishermen on the beach were awed. We just all sat there and watched them roll in, some, I swear, 90-feet high. The FISHERMEN were scared.

But the tsunami . . . I watch videos of it. Just imagine your living room, and the river overflows. Then the water starts to rise. But it's not this one big awesome wave, it's more like this pervasive, overflowing toilet.

Have you ever been to the beach? Ever stood in a wave that's breaking at your knees? Ever felt the power of that? Just imagine a wave that's breaking above your head.

I'm very far from a beach.

I hope you are too, and you have a 150-foot ladder and don't live near the Andamans.