As I write this, a city I've never visited lies partially submerged in a brackish mixture of seawater, chemicals, and waste. The media is using words like, "nightmare," to describe the situation. It's really hard to wrap my mind around the reality of the calamity. Outside my window I see calm darkness. I know an earthquake could strike without warning at any moment, but I accept that. All Californians do. I'm not sure where I'm going with this post, but wherever one chooses to live, there seems to be a trade off. A gamble, if you will. The winning streak never goes on forever. I hope that when the waters recede, there will prove to be fewer casualties (human and otherwise) than the talking heads are predicting. Life is hard enough without having a 100 plus mile-an-hour monkey wrench come crashing down on us. Of course, when these things happen, people prove their resiliency. We bounce back. Maybe those who no longer seem to live, those who merely exist in some twilight of their own making, will find that they are truly alive after all. Maybe some good will come of this for them. As for the rest, my thoughts are with them.

Our own lives are a bit more mundane. The boys started school today. It's almost like summer never was. The Dickens gets to go to her new preschool this week too. Jen took her down to check out the campus today. She's really excited about it. At work, I'm continuing to help get our our site ready for outdoor school. They're going to tear down one of the buildings this Autumn to make way for the new lodge. This means shuffling rooms for the staff and students. I am one of the shufflers, dragging everything from wastebaskets to ceiling tiles from one place to another. It's peaceful this week, with no band camps or symphony camps or any other sort of camp cluttering up the place. There are just a few of us on site. As much as I like working with the kids, this is kind of nice in its own way. I'd better enjoy it while I can...