Surprises...Good and Bad

I got word a couple of days ago that Cliff and Co. would be coming home almost a week early. Which is always totally sweet! Yesterday, I received some phone calls with updates along his route, including a window of time and where to pick him up.

But before he landed, my excitement and anticipation turned to shock and sickness when I learned of the enormous earthquake that hit mainland Japan. Cliff was in the air at the time, and didn't hear the news until he was being transported by bus, from the base which they landed to the base at which I was supposed to pick him up. By then, we were under tsunami warning, and I was afraid that since the pickup point was at sea level, that he was going to get stuck in some kind of holding pattern.

Luckily, the pickup went almost as scheduled, just delayed a bit waiting for baggage to clear customs (but nothing can go totally smoothly with military movements. It's against the rules...so we had no complaints.)

After a quick kiss, Cliff loaded his gear into Apollo, and we headed for home. While we were driving along one of the busiest streets on the base...this is what we saw:


No, this is not a normal occurrence. Ducks do not usually walk down this street. Not ever.



They certainly don't try to cross the road. Then Cliff reminded me of accounts of animals fleeing areas where tsunamis are due to hit, which made perfect sense and totally freaked me out. Thankfully, it was a false alarm. The tsunami waves were only a few feet down here and caused no damage. We only wished this were true for all of Japan. At this point, we had no idea how bad things were. No idea at all.

Living it up in Korea

Just thought you might like to see how Cliff and his friends are living in the lap of luxury on this trip. Nothing but the best for my sweetie.

I could tell you all kinds of funny stories about tents collapsing under the weight of the snow, inadequate space heaters, etc. (Apparently someone didn't know space heaters have limits. With that logic, you could just put the thing outside and heat all of Asia, right?) But I won't. That which doesn't kill you only makes you stronger, right?

Kompasu Scones

Well, while the typhoon was somewhat of a disappointment (not that I'm complaining) it was cool to see the sideways rain and bending of the palm trees from our safe, cement bunker...and we didn't lose power. And best of all, it gave us an excuse to bake!


Scones seemed in order. A quadruple batch. (That should sustain us if things turn ugly.)



Yes, those are mini chocolate chips, not raisins. (Gross!)



Don't they look wonderful?



I think these will be our new typhoon tradition. Or maybe just when it rains.



Considering we get 3 times the rainfall of Seattle...we'll all be fat and happy.

Typhoon Kompasu Day Two TC-1E

Our back patio with the cover removed

So this storm slowed overnight and gained strength. When we woke up this morning, it had gone from a category one to a two, and was due to become a three before it hit. That has changed by tonight and it will hit us as a two and then turn to a three after it passes. It will be interesting to see what that means.

The below videos were taken right before we went to TCCOR-1 (Emergency), meaning all outdoor activity must cease and people must remain indoors. The kids wanted to say they had been out in a typhoon. Since they hadn't "called it" yet, how could I refuse?

Now we are safely inside, munching on Kompasu scones, watching the Karate Kid II from Netflix. Seems fitting for an Okinawan typhoon, no?

It's supposed to be crazy windy tonight and tomorrow, as the eye of this thing was far forward, and all of the weather seemed to be behind it on the radar. The worst is still a couple of hours away.

Today was the first typhoon day the kids have had (day off of school) in six years here. (Woohoo!) The teachers still had to go in, though, since they didn't call TCCOR-1 Caution until after school was already over, which is the required level for staff to also have the day off. (Boo!) I don't understand why the military peeps were all told to stay home (other than essential personnel), but the school employees had to go in. Different bosses, I guess.

Scene out our back door

The kids really wanted to say they'd been out in a typhoon...



But it was short-lived, as they called TC-1 (Emergency) about 2 minutes later.

It's really howling out there, now...and I'm ever so grateful for this ugly cement bunker!

Typhoon Kompasu Day Two PM

Typhoon Kompasu Day Two Midday

Typhoon Kompasu Day Two AM

Typhoon Kompasu Day One PM

We had a great time battening down the hatches today, getting ready for the impending typhoon of doom. Cliff had the day off (almost everyone that was involved in the exercise over the past two weeks, involving crazy hours, was scheduled to have the day off today) but we hadn't intended to spend it doing projects we were just going to have to turn around and undo. Oh well. Turns out, he'll also have tomorrow off. We'll all be confined to our homes at some point, until they call off the threat.

Anyway, we got the patio cover taken down, the BBQ and patio furniture put away in the sheds, the hanging and potted plants secured, bikes brought in the house, trashcans chained down, the portable shed strapped down, etc. We found lots of crazy critters while moving things:


This guy was just like the one who chased me in my own home one day. Oh...I haven't blogged about that yet? I'm still suffering from the flashbacks. It may take awhile to recover.



Jake and Coree found these gecko eggs while chasing a gecko (who had climbed up Cliff's leg, into his shirt, up his back and back out the arm hole to the ground).



Worried about their chances of survival, they thought maybe we should bring them inside. I assured them their mom probably laid them there for safe keeping, even in a typhoon.





Here's our sunset weather watch. Hopefully we'll be back in the AM with something more exciting. Unless this thing turns in the night...which doesn't look likely.

We're pretty sure we're all set with goods...flashlights, water, candles, plenty of food, baking supplies (must have typhoon goodies), games, movies, including Karate Kid II, which came in the mail today via Netflix. Coincidence? I think not. We're saving it so we can watch the Okinawa typhoon scene during our typhoon. We're just hoping the power stays on, of course.

Bring it, Kompasu. Let's see what you got. We've been wanting to try out this cement bunker for awhile now.

Typhoon Kompasu Day One AM