As Sure As the Sun Will Rise

Every day that I leave my house to go anywhere, I stop at the bottom of the hill, at this stop sign, look both ways, and turn left. It's not something I think about, it's not something I choose. I either do it, or I can't get there. Last September, I did my best to photograph this same moment using my cell phone camera, and as you can see, it really feels the same every year as soon as Fall is in the air, the mist rising, the light is fantastic and the day begins again.

Just before moving to Oregon, when I was age eight, my friends in California teased me, saying that my family were moving away because we were afraid of the "big one". That was the first time I ever heard about the "big one". They say it is coming as sure as the sun will rise. "Not a matter of 'if' but a matter of 'when', they say. "They" said it when I was eight, and they're saying it more emphatically now.

Last year, when I was introduced to blip, I was introduced to the beautiful people of Christchurch, New Zealand at the same time. They can tell you all about the "big one", but what they will also tell you is that it's never just one. It's a big one, then another pretty big one and a pretty big one after that and a whoooole bunch of little ones to follow.

Our administrators where I work my day job, have gotten pretty realistic. They used to tell us that, in case of a catastrophic event, we were to report to work and begin helping the elderly and disabled population of our community as soon as we could get there. Yesterday, we were informed, as I said pretty realistically, that if when the "big one" hits, our little town will be without bridges, roads and most of it's buildings. You see, the original name for the town of Coos Bay was Marshfield. That's because it is built on fill dirt in a location that used to be a marsh. Pretty liquid underneath and pretty unlikely to stand a 9.0 earthquake. Since the whole area is comprised of hills and valleys, waterways, bridges, cliffs etc., the high places will be separated by the destructive forces of water and earth movement in the low places.

They said we would be unable to communicate with anyone because all service would be cut off. At that moment, I looked to the heavens and smiled, thanking God that I wouldn't be cut off from Him no matter what. It is hard to prepare for an event like that, not knowing if you'll be at the top of the hill or at the bottom of the hill when it happens. We do the best we can, but we really need to know that there is something greater that we can count on as sure as the sun will rise. I appreciate all I have learned this year from the folks in Christchurch, and I just hope that if my friends in blipland hear there has been a catastrophic earthquake on the Pacific Coast of America, and you don't hear from those of us here for awhile, that you'll have a little chat with God on our behalf as well. He'll help us out. When we get back online, we'll catch you up on the stories and the memories of what it was like. I sure do hope, however, that it's another good long time before it happens.