This Friday morning I had a good start to the day and good prayers.  Then while making breakfast I turned on the TV and saw early coverage of the earthquake and tsunami in Japan.  It was interesting at first and the magnitude and tragedy of the event did not hit me initially.

Throughout the day I watched the coverage on and off.  I had a hard time concentrating on my school work as the reports and video came in.  As the events unfolded the timescale of waring was reported I began to realize just how terrible it was.  The reports focused much on the destruction of cars, boats, and buildings.  There was also a lot of focus on the geological cause of the event.  But as I watched the video I wondered how many of those vehicles and buildings were occupied.  I heard that the coastal areas only had 10 minutes of warning.

My wife worked all day.  In the evening after dinner when she was home she noticed that I was visibly irritable.  I had hit my child exposure overload threshold and was feeling despondent.   When she asked me what was wrong I denied it of course.  At one point she asked me if I would be attending a fundraiser event at the twelve step club for a friend with cancer.  I thought about how I hadn't even planned to go to a meeting.  I snapped at her thinking it absurd that she thought I would have time for that.  I regretted this later for both reasons, treating her concern as trite, and not supporting my friends.

I think it was better for her that I stayed home.  Plus we had a game scheduled early in the morning.  But if I had planned a little better, I could have made the effort without affecting us much.  I need to make the Friday night meeting a recurring event on my schedule.

Thanks be to God.