I had a hard time sleeping last night, worrying about my son who was due to fly to Korea on business this coming weekend. I’d been sending him information on iodine tables, the prospects of radiation exposure in Seoul, the latest dire news out of Japan. Needless to say, I was relieved to learn this morning that the trip was postponed (for other reasons entirely).
It reminded me, vividly, of the day of the Chernoble melt-down. There were fears of a radioactive cloud coming over Ottawa, near our home. I was in Toronto, on business; my children were back home, in the path of this cloud. I panicked, but there was nothing I could do!
(Ironically, I noticed what I thought was a travel movie on Brazil playing at a theatre near where I was staying. I’d spent my early years in Brazil, so I thought it might be soothing. Well! As anyone who has seen the movie Brazil knows: it was anything but calming, especially under the circumstances.)
I have a special relationship with Japan, and I feel what it is going though deeply. I travelled there twice in my teens. The country enchanted me; I wanted to stay there forever. I read their novels, their poets, learned tea ceremony, the art of flower arrangement. My brother and his wife import Japanese antique furniture: they travel there often and know that country well. Our houses are graced with beautiful Japanese antique tonsus and prints.
And so what does this have to do with The Writing Life? It has to do with how Life goes on. I sent off my “last bit” to The Task Master this morning. (Yay!) I’m going to pay a little attention to all that other stuff that needs attention: income taxes (ugh), a mountain of correspondence (sigh), before dealing with the revision of Parts I, II, III. Deadline: April 1!
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Wow! That was quite an interesting lookback, Sandra. I loved your discussion of Japan, your memories of it, and it made me think of ABC News where Diane Sawyer mentioned the other evening that there had been no looting, but that all the Japanese had seemed to pull together to help each other. What a contrast to other places in the world where confusion, hurt, pain, and greed overcome goodness. The Japanese have something very special.
I remember Chernobyl very well. I lived in the state of Michigan then. I remember when Ronald Reagan was President and Al Haig was influential then. I had bought a booklet from NYC on how to read people’s minds then.
A lot has happened since then. Strange to think that Russia could also be affected by this Japanese earthquake. I remember when the ash from Mt. Helen’s went completely around the earth, so why not believe that particles from radioactive material could too.
This was a thoughtful post, Sandra. I, like you, have been reflecting on Japan, specifically my experiences while visiting that beautiful country. I blogged about it as a way to process everything that is happening. It’s so sad. I hope we hear more stories of the miracles … like that baby that found alive.
Thank you so much, Leah. It is so sad … and yes, I hope for more miracles. It’s a resilient country, but they are being unbelievably tested.
I was in my first year of High School in IL, a year later a nuclear power plant opened less than 100 miles away. It pushed me into the anti-nuclear movement. Since then I’ve spent my life trying to stop the nuclear industry. To today my bioregion, the landscape of the Colorado Plateau (4 corners region of the USA), bears the impacts of the nuclear era since the Manhattan Project. Thousands of Navajos impacted but little is said about it. Be it the mines on Navajo land or the destruction of the Columbia River by the Hanford nuclear facility we must realize our mistakes in the States and move away from the nuclear era. Prayer to all those impacted by the nuclear era.
One summer, when I was at Girl Scout Camp on the California/Nevada border, we’d watch the mushroom clouds. I grew up during the Cold War, air raid siren drills were common. In Grade Five, we were asked to write essays on the last day of life. My first novel (never published) was about a nuclear apocalypse, but by then, nobody wanted to think about it. For years, I, too, was part of a group fighting nuclear power. If there is a good side to this catastrophe, one hopes that it will be in “waking” up the powers to the reality of the dangers.