Friday of the Earthquake & Tsunami

Somewhere at about 3:30 or 4 am, I awoke to news of the 8.9 earthquake and subsequent tsunamis off the northeastern coast of Japan. Truly horrifying. I turned on the tv for a short while and then went back to the BBC on the radio until I fell back to sleep until 5:30, after which I couldn't return to sleep. I've tried to get hourly news when I've been home, and at some point I heard that this earthquake was the third worst, in terms of magnitude, in human history. Is there a patron saint of protection from earthquakes and / or tsunamis? Or a patron saint of disaster relief? If there isn't, we definitely need at least one. Many, many prayers are going to G-D, Jesus, and His Mother this night.

In the meantime, after seeing my psychiatrist this morning, I did some shopping and then came home to do laundry and finalize the assignment for my memoir-writing class tomorrow afternoon. Because the dryer on my floor is terrible -- it takes putting clothes through the dryer twice to get them dry, and yes, I've reported it and nothing gets done -- I didn't get finished with everything until 9:30 pm. Too late to cook dinner, I thought, and I should have listened. I ended up burning my right hand on the toaster. (I don't know how I did it; all I know is that I thought something near the toaster was going to fall, so I went to catch it. In the process, the fleshy part of my right hand between my little finger & wrist ended up on the metal part of the toaster. Of course I'm right-handed. And I've spent most of the last hour & a half holding a bag of frozen peas (les petit pois) on my hand. Does anyone ever eat these things? It seems everyone I know keeps a bag of them in the freezer for accidents: twisted ankles, sprained wrists, burns. Don't worry; this is fairly minor, even though it hurts like hell right now!

So tonight's blog will be brief. Please pray for all those affected by the earthquake; if you are able, please donate to disaster relief organizations such as Catholic Relief Services or Partners in Health. There is presently so much need in the world. I'm very worried about the outcome of the struggle in Libya. So as I bid all of you a good night, I think of the hopeful words of Blessed Julian of Norwich: "All will be well; all will be well; and all manner of things will be well." (From The Revelations of Divine Love) Good night everyone!