The Non-Tsunami: Relief and Disappointment

The anticipation and anxiety today were palpable, televisions blaring, people congregating in the street, and all comparing the latest updates on the time/strength of the tsunami to come. The footage of the earthquake in Japan was so fierce that I was frightened of possibilities I couldn't even fathom. I remembered the first time I felt a 6.5 quake here last summer, and I was SURE the sky was falling, to quote my old friend the hen - wasn't it a hen?

Oonie told me to go to "high ground," and the thing was "scheduled" for 4:00 PM, so I drove to a high cliff about 20 minutes from here to watch and to be safe, leaving all my windows open, computer running, and other such supid things. When I got there, the ocean was calm, the sun moving into that golden time, dripping into the foliage and turning banana leaves and grass a lime green; the sky was a dark blue-gray.

I watched a woman poking around in the rocks below and wanted to shout to her, but already the passengers in oncoming traffic were shouting as they passed, "Tsunami!" or "Here is comes!" I decided to leave her alone, but then the atmosphere became festive with more cars arriving, kids and dogs romping, and one fellow who owned a little hotel said that there were about 100 people down on the beach: surfers, waters, tourists. His son, at this point riding up on his shoulders, said, "No, it was only about 90 people." Suffice it to say, the beach was packed, and I began to feel less concerned.

When it started getting on for 5:00 most of us pulled out of the lot above the cliff and drove our separate ways, but the roads were crowded with people on bikes, clusters of people chatting and cars seeming to be in a hurry, as I was. It was time for my final Costa Rican cerveza until May. I will try to get that car up over the mountains tomorrow morning. I have had every orifice filled with fluids of one sort or another: break, steering, windshield washer, coolant and oil. The REAL thrill was the having the mechanic spray the "belts" so they wouldn't squeak! Who knew?

Another adventure tomorrow.