Remembering Mom & Dad At Ocean Shores With Sister Michele Rogue Waving

Arriving in my email, a Microsoft OneDrive Memory from this Day that I do remember.

Except it was a day in August, not September.

The year was 2001.

I'd driven solo from Texas back to Washington to be a surprise arrival at my mom and dad's 50th Wedding Anniversary Party, which was to take place on August 11, because that day was a convenient Saturday, whilst their actual anniversary date of August 6 was an inconvenient Monday.

August 11 also happens to be my birthday. When I went to my mom and dad's 40th Anniversary Party, on Samish Island, ten years prior, that also was on an August 11 Saturday.

On the August 11, 2001 instance, after my surprise arrival, a quick happy birthday card was fashioned. I think I still have that in a box somewhere in my abode.

At the point in time of that August 2001 visit to Washington, mom and dad were still spending the warm time of the year in a cabin at Lake Cushman, on the Olympic Peninsula, before spending the cold time of the year in Arizona.

So, at some point in time after the anniversary party I drove out to Lake Cushman, and then rode with mom and dad to Ocean Shores, on the Pacific Coast, where sister Jackie, and others were staying in a beachfront hotel.

Ocean Shores has always been one of my favorite Washington locations.

In that photo at the top we'd driven to the end of the Ocean Shores road which leads to the entry to Grays Harbor. This is a great whale viewing location, along with seeing some big waves. That would be mom and dad looking at you in the above photo.

And, in the second above photo, that is sister Jackie, and my all-time favorite brother-in-law, Jack, sitting on one of the rocks which serve as a barrier to incoming waves at the entry to Grays Harbor.

Back to that photo of mom and dad, at the top.

Years prior I had one of my most memorable experiences ever at this location.

It was a Sunday. I'd driven over to the coast, from Ellensburg, for the weekend. I think it may have been the Easter weekend. David, Theo & Ruby's mama Michele was about 4 years old. Maybe 5.

Big Ed, me and little Michele parked at the above Ocean Shores location, and walked out onto the beach, joining dozens of others, many in their having been to church clothes.

The waves were being big. It is a fun thing on the Pacific Coast to be at the edge of the ocean, with the waves crashing in and out. 

And then something happened I had heard of but had never experienced. Suddenly it was obvious an incoming wave was much bigger than those previously crashing.

A rogue wave.

We started running. Eventually I picked up Michele so we could run faster. I got us up on a big chunk of driftwood, thinking the wave would not get that high.

I was wrong. We were washed off the driftwood. 

But, soon the force of the wave abated. We were soaking wet. And I had some explaining to do when we returned to my mother's location.

I have asked Michele previously what she remembers of this. She has absolutely zero recollection. For me, it is as vivid as if it happened yesterday...

Remembering Ocean Shores & A 50th Wedding Anniversary Party

 Another rare instance where I remember all the memories Microsoft OneDrive is suggesting I should remember.

Trouble with this memory is I remember none of these memories occurred in September.

The photo at the upper left was taken July 27, 2002, at a Jones Family reunion at the fairgrounds in Lynden, Washington.

The other photographic memories happened in August of 2001. I had driven solo from Texas to Washington for mom and dad's 50th wedding anniversary party.

On that visit to Washington dad drove mom and me to Ocean Shores, on the Washington Pacific coast, which would make that mom and dad at the upper right, at the beach at the south end of Ocean Shores.

Below mom and dad is my Grandma Vera, mom's mom, at that aforementioned 50th Wedding Anniversary party, which took place in the Seattle suburb of Kent.

Below Grandma Vera that would be mom and dad opening Happy Anniversary presents. I do not recollect myself bringing a present. I guess my unexpected presence was my Happy Anniversary present.

At the lower left we are back at Ocean Shores, a short distance from the memory of mom and dad on the beach. 

In that lower left photo we are looking at the breakwater of erosion preventing giant boulders at the north side of the entry to Grays Harbor. There was a large group of us, that day, at Ocean Shores. Two of whom are who are being photographed on the boulders getting wet from the spray of crashing waves.

David, Theo, Ruby & Aunt Jackie At Ocean Shores

The Skagit Valley's Linda Lou called today whilst I was checking out at Walmart, buying bread making supplies, and during the course of the conversation Linda Lou asked if Arizona's Aunt Jackie was still in Washington.

I answered that I did not know for sure, that the last I heard Aunt Jackie was going to spend several days this week at Ocean Shores.

And then a few hours later a text message arrived from David, Theo & Ruby's Mama Michele with three photos along with text saying something like "I'd ask where in the PNW they are, but I think you were already told!"

The water of the Pacific Ocean at Ocean Shores, or anywhere on the Washington coast, is cold, even in summer. Though in summer the water does warm up a bit and one can do a quick dip and wave dodge. And people do do that surfing thing like one does in Southern California. Or Hawaii. But whilst wearing a wetsuit so as to keep warm.

I do not know if those are wetsuits Ruby and Theo are wearing above, so as to keep warm during a quick dip in the cold Pacific.

When I was a kid, about the age of David, maybe a little older, one summer we were at Ocean Shores and there was a fad of people sand surfing on big round disks. Sliding along on the wet sand freshly coated by incoming waves.

Us kids thought that looked fun, so when we got back home dad made my little brother and me big round sand surfing disks. I recollect returning to Ocean Shores and trying to sand surf. I do not recollect how successful we were at it.

Above we see the aforementioned Aunt Jackie, still in Washington, with bare footed Ruby, David and Theo. It looks like Theo has found himself a kelp whip.

Way back when I was a kid one could find a lot of sand dollars on the Ocean Shores beach. And sometimes Japanese fishnet glass floats. I doubt Japanese fishermen still use those type floats, and so they no longer wash up on Washington beaches.

Yup, that definitely is a kelp whip Theo is holding. It looks like David may have one too.

As you can see, the beach at Ocean Shores is wide and flat. You can drive on the beach, within precise parameters. As in you can not drive out as far as the clam beds, unless you want to incur a large fine. In summer the traffic on this beach is quite busy. Miles and miles of vehicles driving back and forth. You can see some vehicle tracks behind the kids.

During a low tide, in clam digging season, behind David, Theo and Ruby you would be seeing throngs of people digging for razor clams. As in thousands of clam diggers. It is quite a spectacle.

Mom and dad, and I think Mama Michele, were razor clam digging the Sunday morning Mt. St. Helens blew up. This created quite a panic scene as it became known what had caused the big boom. Ocean Shores is closer to Mt. St. Helens than my Mount Vernon location, where I was in a bath tub when I heard three concussive booms that seemed like nothing I had heard before.

If I make it to Washington this summer it sure would be a mighty fine thing to visit Ocean Shores. My cousin Linda now lives there...

Aunt Jackie With David, Theo & Ruby Before Seeing Some Ocean Shores

Yesterday, whilst mentioning David, Theo & Ruby's First Good Friday Easter Bunny Visit, I also mentioned that David, Theo & Ruby's Aunt Jackie was currently in Washington and that I had not yet heard if Aunt Jackie had seen the Tacoma Trio and their parental units.

Later that same day a text message with a photo arrived, from Aunt Jackie, confirming she has seen the Tacoma Trio, with the photo above documenting that fact.

Apparently, for the coming few days, Aunt Jackie will be staying at Ocean Shores. I assume with the Tacoma Trio, their parental units, and others. 

If I remember right, the last time I was at Ocean Shores was in August of 2004. Previous to that 2004 Ocean Shores visit it would have been some time in August of 2001 I was last at one of my favorite locations in Washington. I had driven to Washington, from Texas, for mom and dad's 50th anniversary party. A couple days after that dad drove myself and mom to Ocean Shores, where Aunt Jackie, her first husband Jack, and several others were staying at a ocean front hotel.

I recollect that being a fun visit to Ocean Shores. Who could have known, at the time, that this would be the last time I would ever go to Ocean Shores with mom and dad. Growing up in Washington, going to Ocean Shores happened frequently.

Let me see if I can find a photo of that 2001 visit to Ocean Shores...

Now that took way too long to find.

That is the Pacific Ocean behind dad and mom. This is at the south end of Ocean Shores. To dad's right, out of the photo's view, is a big barrier of giant rocks at the entry to Grays Harbor. When I was at this location in 2004 we spent a few minutes watching whales blowing off steam.

At this same location, many years earlier, I was here with David, Theo & Ruby's Mama Michele.

Michele was 4 or 5 years old. It was a Sunday. There were a lot of people on the beach. Suddenly a rogue wave rolled in. I had never experienced such a thing before. People further out began to run away from the wave. Soon I realized I needed to run too. I picked up Michele and made it to a big driftwood, got up on it, but the wave still knocked us over, getting us soaking wet.

I had some explaining to do when we returned to mom and dad.

Here's another photo from that same day. With the aforementioned Aunt Jackie, and first husband, Jack, sitting on that also aforementioned big barrier of giant rocks...

I do not see scenes such as you see above at my current location. 

It is beginning to look ever more bleak the prospect that I will be seeing this type scenery in a few months. I hope I am wrong about this...

Ocean Shores Postcard From David, Theo & Ruby

A couple days ago, on Facebook, Miss Tamara posted a photo of her current view. I asked if that view was looking at Anacortes. The answer quickly confirmed that I was looking at a view from a roof in Anacortes. This led to a series of comments which eventually had Miss Tamara apologizing for making me homesick.

Anacortes is a town in Washington with multiple saltwater features, such as Fidalgo Bay and the Guemes Strait. Ferry boats launched from Anacortes take you to Vancouver Island. That is in Canada. Ferry boats also ferry you to the various San Juan Islands.

Anacortes is also the location of Spencer Jack's dad's Fidalgo Drive-In, which was made mention of in the series of comments on Miss Tamara's Facebook post, with all the comments amounting to being rave restaurant reviews.

When Miss Tamara apologized for making me homesick I replied that this was absolutely no problem, that such happened just about each and every day, of late.

Such as this morning when I found what you see above, in my mailbox.

A post card from David, Theo and Ruby.

In the photo we are looking north at the south end of the Ocean Shores beach. That skinny thing you see sticking out into the water is a manmade breakwater consisting of giant boulders, protecting the inlet into Grays Harbor. For those used to being landlocked in Texas, that body of water with the Ocean Shores beach is known as the Pacific Ocean.

The message on the postcard is what you see here, telling me the Tacoma Trio could have used my mad sandcastle building skills.

A few months ago I was just about 100% certain that at the current point in time I would be up north, in Washington, helping David, Theo and Ruby build sand castles, among other things.

The heading to the Pacific Northwest this summer thing not happening is the cause of the extreme bouts of homesickness.

 I was sort of looking forward to being there.

That and using the roadtripping method to get there. Something I had not done since July of 2001.

I was hoping to bring my mountain bike along, so David, Theo and Ruby could take me on the mountain bike trails in the park we biked a short distance the last time I was in Tacoma.

I was also hoping to do some trail hiking on Harstine Island, the location of the cabin David, Theo and Ruby have acquired since I was last in Washington. The island has a lagoon for swimming, and calm south Puget Sound water for kayaking.

Someday, maybe, the world will get back to some semblance of normal. And I will then be able to go somewhere other than my current location. I suspect that semblance of normal ain't happening anytime soon...

Raven Escapes To Ocean Shores With Kristin, Michele & The Tacoma Trio

I learned last night that to temporarily escape being housebound in Tacoma, or cabinbound on Harstine Island, the Tacoma Trio decided it was a good time to take a summer time look at the Pacific Ocean.

Doing so took the Tacoma Trio to Ocean Shores.

I have blogged about Ocean Shores a couple times on one of my other blogs, first in a blogging titled Ocean Shores Washington and a second time in Washington's Pacific Ocean's Ocean Shores is Celebrating 50 Years of Coasting.

In the first photo that is David, Kristin, Ruby, Michele & David, being guarded by Raven. I do not know where Raven's step brother, Eddie is.

Maybe Eddie took the picture.

That is the body of water known as the Pacific Ocean behind Raven and his family.

When I was the Tacoma Trio's age going to Ocean Shores was just about my favorite place we'd go on weekend camping trips. Only we simply called it "going to the coast".  And we did not usually stay in Ocean Shores, which is a town created in the 1960s. We usually stayed a few miles north in the little town of Copalis, where my little brother and I always had fun buying a balsa wood airplane to fly til it broke.

The Pacific Ocean beach at Ocean Shores, and for miles north and south, is a wide sandy swath, so wide two lanes of traffic drive on the "beach".

The last time I did so was way back in 2004, if memory serves me correctly.

Above that appears to be Ruby, Michele and Theo running towards the waves.

And now it appears Ruby, Michele and Theo are preparing to run in the other direction to escape the incoming waves.

Here we see David, Ruby, Theo and Raven on the big rocks which make up the spit which sticks way out into the ocean at the entry to Grays Harbor. The waves can get mighty big at this location. When I was last there, in 2004, we watched a big herd of seals frolicking in the surf. And whales spouting further out.

This is also the location of my one and only time experiencing what is known as a rogue wave.

It was a Sunday morning, long long ago. Ruby's mama Michele was about five years younger than Ruby is now. We joined throngs of others walking the beach at low tide.

Suddenly it was obvious an incoming wave was way bigger than the rest.

People began running to dry land. I picked up little Michele, and ran as fast as I could go, eventually getting high on a piece of driftwood, which ended up not being high enough, as we got swept off, and totally wet. The getting wet thing pretty much ended the drama as the wave retreated.

I remember this incident so clearly. I have previously asked Michele if she remembers it. She does not. One of the more vivid things I remember was, with it being Sunday, many of the beach goers were still wearing their going to church attire, including a lady wearing a ridiculously big fur coat. She could not run fast enough and was totally knocked down by the rogue wave. Her fur coat probably never recovered.

The information accompanying the Ocean Shores photos made no mention of staying overnight in one of the many Ocean Shores motels, but the above photo indicates such was the case. Maybe they stayed at the Gitchee Gumee. The last time I overnighted in Ocean Shores, with Michele, and mom and dad, was at the Gitchee Gumee. And one of the attractions was the indoor pool.

Months ago I was 100% certain I would be in Washington this month, having fun with the Tacoma Trio, swimming, sand castle building and mountain biking. But, last week the reservations at Birch Bay were cancelled, putting an end to what had become an ever decreasing chance of roadtripping to the Pacific Northwest this summer.

Someday, I hope, this current nightmare will end. Maybe in time to roadtrip to the Pacific Northwest for David's high school graduation. Or Spencer Jack's wedding. Or something else which currently seems like it would be way into the future...

Pacific Coast Rogue Washington Waves With Mom, Dad & Sister Michele

I saw that which you see here this morning in the Seattle Times, via an article titled Watch cars flee a rogue wave at Ocean Park on Washington state coast.

No, this is not yet one more instance of sharing something I see in a west coast online news source which is not something I'd expect to see in a Texas, or Fort Worth news source, about something one would not expect to see in Texas or Fort Worth.

Well, now that you're making me think about it, I guess while it is obvious a rogue wave can happen on the Texas Gulf Coast, such a thing could not occur in Fort Worth. The town does not even have a water park generating fake waves which could malfunction and get out of control.

Then again, now that you're still making me think about it, what you see in the screen cap above is actually something one rarely finds in Fort Worth. That being a modern restroom facility in a park. In this case, Ocean Park, in the Long Beach zone of Washington's Pacific Coast.

In the Seattle Times article, in the caption under the video we are told this...

The National Weather Service recorded waves more than 30 feet tall near Aberdeen and near the mouth of the Columbia River. More stormy weather is forecast for the weekend.

The west coast has been getting battered by some big waves of late. A couple days ago I saw video from Cannon Beach, that's on the Oregon coast, of a wave making its way far from shore, foaming water down a Cannon Beach street. I don't know if this wave got near my cousin's Cannon Beach house. But I have not seen him on Facebook ever since this infamous wave came to town.

Years ago, when my little sister, David, Theo and Ruby's Mama Michele, was younger than Theo and Ruby are now, at 5 or 6, we were at Ocean Shores. That is on the Pacific Coast at the north side of Grays Harbor. There is a massive jetty made from massive boulders at the entry to Grays Harbor. The Ocean Shores beach begins at the north side of that jetty. Let me see if I can find a photo of this location.

All I could find was what you see above. Dad and mom at the aforementioned location. The jetty is to their left. This photo would have been taken in August of 2001. I was in Washington for mom and dad's 50th wedding anniversary party. A few days after that dad drove us out to Ocean Shores where sister Jackie, nephew Jeremy, brother-in-law Jack and others were staying at an Ocean Shores beachfront hotel.

At some point we all drove to the above location. I remember I had my new Olympus camera and being surprised at how well that camera captured big waves splashing into the jetty. I do not know where those photos are, or why they are not on this computer along with this one of mom and dad.

Anyway, back when David, Theo & Ruby's Mama Michele was 5 or 6 I had driven over to Ocean Shores during a spring break from CWU in Ellensburg. That's in Eastern Washington. On a Sunday morning we took off to play on a now removed shipwreck which sank during a storm in the early 1960s.

Now where are my photos of that?

Missing photos are beginning to bug me.

So, we got to the beach where you see mom and dad above. The tide was out. There were dozens of people on the beach, at the water's edge. Some having come from church, all dressed up. I remember one lady wearing a fur coat which seemed sort of odd.

As we were playing wave dodge, suddenly we, and everyone else on the beach, realized the incoming wave was way bigger than the ones we had been dodging.

We began to run away from the shore. I picked up Michele. The wave caught up with us. I got us up on a driftwood. We were washed off the driftwood. This was the most dramatic panic scene I had ever been part of.

And then it was over, the wave receded. And we were left soaking wet.

I wonder if Michele remembers this incident? Or was it so traumatic it became a buried memory? If I remember right Michele did not panic or get scared. She probably thought we were having fun. I may have been able to keep Michele dry. I don't remember for sure.

I must try and find all these missing photos. In the meantime watch this cool drone video from the Seattle Times of the "Storm Surge - High Tide - Ocean Park, Wa Beach Approach "Cars Scrambling" Today 1-18-2018"...

Another Alligator Not Caught In Downtown Fort Worth

Yesterday I blogged about the capture of the 10 foot long blind alligator which had been terrorizing downtown Fort Worth ever since it was flushed in to town by last month's flooding.

In that blogging I opined that this was something one would never see in the Seattle Times, a reversal of my popular series of bloggings about things I read in west coast online news sources which I would never read in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.

Well.

This morning I found a blog comment from Steve A which sort of contradicts what I'd opined about not seeing such a thing as an alligator capture in an article in the Seattle Times about an alligator terrorizing the Seattle zone on one of the town's lakes  or saltwater beaches.

Steve A's comment....

Steve A has left a new comment on your post "Downtown Fort Worth's Blind Alligator Pulled From Trinity River So Rockin' The River Can Resume":

Hmm, they caught an alligator last year in Ocean Shores - http://northcoastnews.com/news/police-nab-alligator-ocean-shores-blvd.html 

_________________________________

There are some major differences in the two alligator incidents.

The Ocean Shores alligator was a woman's pet, kept in a kid's swimming pool in her apartment. The woman had had this unusual pet for years. Someone tipped off the police, a warrant was issued, but then someone tipped off the Alligator Woman, who then tried to escape with her alligator, just as police arrived to find the gator in the backseat of the woman's vehicle, thwarting the attempted escape.

The alligator was then taken to a nature preserve. I am guessing it was a different nature preserve than the one Fort Worth's downtown alligator was taken to....

Spencer Jack's Driver's Training On the Beach In Ocean Shores Washington

A few hours ago an incoming email from Spencer Jack's dad had a picture of what looked like Spencer and his dad about to board a British Airways plane, with the text in the email telling me "Spencer Jack boards the Concorde en route to visit his Uncle."

The Concorde?

The Concorde has long gone to the same resting place as America's Space Shuttle.

En route to visit his uncle? As far as I know Spencer Jack has only two uncles. Those being me and my Favorite Nephew Joey. This is not a good time to be visiting Spencer Jack's Texas uncle, so I assumed the uncle being visited was Joey.

That Joey was the object of the visit was confirmed in follow up emails, one of which had a video attached, with the message in the email being "Killing time waiting to meet Uncle Joe."

That attached video you can watch below, where you will see Spencer Jack having his first driving lesson, on the sands of Ocean Shores. In the picture below, before you get to the video, Spencer Jack is waving at you, with waves of the Pacific Ocean coming to shore behind him.

I do not know if the Texas Gulf Coast has any beaches which are also highways. Washington has Ocean Shores with miles of beach road. If I am remembering right, Long Beach, south of Ocean Shores, also has beach driving.

My last time driving on the beach at Ocean Shores was in the summer of 2001. The driving was done on a real fun tricycle mountain bike type conveyance.

And now, the video of Spencer Jack taking his dad on a drive beside the Pacific Ocean...

Getting Close To A Fosdick Turtle While Thinking About Going To Ocean Shores

A few drops of rain dripped on me when I was in Hurst this morning. For a while the cloud activity was looking like it might go into downpour mode, turning Sam's Club into my rainy day walking location.

But, so far, the only drops that have dripped on me today have been those Hurst ones. And  a few drops from the fountain in the pool this morning. But, that really does not count.

I decided to visit the turtles who guard Fosdick Lake in Oakland Lake Park today. I have visited the turtle you see in the picture previously. He (or she) is not a skittish turtle. He (or she) lets me get close to take pictures and does not seem to mind the bird tweeting noise the camera makes.

How does one tell if a turtle is a boy or girl I suddenly find myself wondering? How do you tell a boy snake from a girl snake? I am sitting here being surprised I've not thought about these serious issues before.

I was not too shocked today to see that the overfilled litter barrel I mentioned a couple days ago has been emptied and some of the litter in the surrounding area has been picked up. Or blown away.

Changing the subject from turtles and snakes and litter to something else.

One of my fellow Washingtonians, currently exiled, along with me, in Texas, is up north in our home state, escaping the Texas HEAT.

A couple days ago Steve A kindly let me know that the temperature at his current location, Ocean Shores on the Washington Pacific Coast, was 63 degrees. I can not think of a more pleasant place to be, right now, than Ocean Shores.

Just to listen to huge waves crashing would be such a good thing. When I'm up in Washington, this summer, maybe one of the Nephew David blogging outtings will be to Ocean Shores.

Just in from Steve A is something else from Washington. In this morning's blogging I rambled on about the price of gas, and the current low at my location of $2.98 a gallon. Steve A commented to that blogging commenting that he'd paid $3.87 for gas at Safeway in Hoquiam.

That is yet one more thing we are blessed with in Texas. Cheaper gas. This will likely cause Steve A to return to Texas.

Changing the subject from cheap gas back to Fosdick Lake.

I do not know why the picture I took of the turtle makes the water of Fosdick Lake appear to be such an appealing shade of blue, with the water appearing to be clean and clear.

It is almost as if my camera somehow automatically creates special effects and illusions.

Admiring Tandy Hills Art Installations While Spotting A Wildfire & Thinking About West Coast Tsunami Damage

I think of all the art installations in the Tandy Hills Natural Area the Rusted Hulk of twisted metal you see in the picture may be my favorite.

The Rusted Hulk seems a more permanent art installation than the recently arrived Tandy Bamboo Teepee. Which still stands.

Near the Rusted Hulk art installation I was appalled to see that someone had drug a log on top of the Tandy Escarpment, above the currently dry Tandy Falls.

And lit the log on fire.

I took a picture of the burned log, but my photo skills did not do it justice.

Why would someone do this? Particularly when Fort Worth and its environs are under a Red Flag Warning. Which means conditions are ripe for wildfires. As I drove away from the Tandy Hills today I heard on the radio that I-287, near Rhome, was shut down due to a wild fire.

From part way down Mount Tandy, looking north, I saw the plume of white smoke you see in the picture. I've no idea if this is the Rhome wildfire.

It does not look like the smoke from previous wildfires that I've seen in Texas. They've all been a big wall of smoke.

Change of subject.

I am being a bit surprised that the tsunami from the Japan Quake has actually done damage on the West Coast. The recent bad quake in Chile brought similar West Coast tsunami warnings. But no damage was done.

The Japan Quake Tsunami has swept 5 out to sea in California and Oregon, with 4 making it back to shore and one still missing, he being a photographer taking pictures near the mouth of the Klamath River in Del Norte County, California.

Crescent City, California has again suffered tsunami damage.

17 people died on the West Coast due to the 1964 Alaska Quake tsunami, with 11 of the dead in Crescent City. Damage estimates in Crescent City are already in the millions. Other coastal towns, like Santa Cruz also sustained damage.

I have never seen a tsunami. But I have been caught by a rogue wave. This was one of the strangest experiences I've ever had. It was in the Ocean Shores area of the Pacific Coast of Washington, at the rock jetty that juts out into Grays Harbor.

The Ocean Shores zone has very wide sandy beaches. It was a Sunday. I was with my little sister, walking on the beach with a lot of other people. Suddenly it was apparent an incoming wave was way bigger than the norm. We were nowhere near the water's edge.

People who were at the water's edge began running away from the ocean. As the water kept coming I picked up my little sister and started running. The water caught up with us. I got up on a big piece of driftwood. The surging water knocked us off and pushed me forward, clinging to my little sister.

Eventually the power of the wave subsided, with insufficient water to drag us back out with it as it receded. Everyone on the beach made it out safely. I will never forget the image of an older lady wearing a big fur coat, totally drenched. And laughing. Like she was counting her blessings that she'd survived something quite phenomenal.

I do not recollect ever seeing scenes like those I've seen coming out of Japan today. Some of the tsunami images look like the tidal waves of tsunami legend.

The Japan Quake has had me on edge all day. Then again, that feeling may have been caused by staying in the pool way too long this morning, thus activating another severe case of the shivers.

It is currently 76 in my zone of Texas. No earthquakes. No chance of a tsunami.