Making it real

You may have heard since last night we have had three earthquakes of magnitude over 7!!
The only one we felt here was at about 2:30 am last night. It woke me up and lasted I’d say 8 seconds. Short, but it seems forever when it happens. That one was over 90km east of Te Araroa on the East Cape. That would be over 800km from our place and yet we felt it quite strong.

There has been no report of damage anywhere, there was a warning of possible tsunami after the last one that was first reported to be 8 in magnitude. They were all under water. I gather the tsunami warning reached Hawaii!!! False alarm, no tsunami in the end.

Well that was our excitement for the day.  Beautiful day it is again.

I’d say we’ll keep you posted but the news goes so fast today you’d hear about it before we get to our computer!

Now that’s sobering intelligence! The quake may have occurred as far away as New Zealand in the South Pacific Ocean but having ancient friends there propels it to the fore. It’s a reminder how close we may be to peril without expectation.  And how catastrophic the consequence may be. So much for running your own life, for controlling your own future, for having a clue about where you’re going or where you’ll end up. It’s one big event that trumps humanity’s trifling bombast. Nature is not one to be overlooked!

Nor does it matter, “False alarm, no tsunami in the end.” A false alarm can betray a great deal about which to concern oneself! But in the oddest of ways. Not because of anything identical or even similar; rather because of something completely different, something not even remotely the same yet just as dangerous.  Beware of the unspoken depth of the false alarm!

The false alarm doesn’t mean there’s nothing there; it means that there is something there. But it requires a teensy push before the danger is full throttle and irretrievably manifest! It’s a warning of what is there. So beware! And before you lose sight and decide to ignore or disregard the threat, have a better look, a closer examination of what just happened!

A false alarm is not so much a comment upon what is beneath the surface as what our interpretation of it is. Don’t be persuaded to a flawed sense of reason or calm. The original alarm derived from something!

Although the impact of tsunamis is limited to coastal areas, their destructive power can be enormous, and they can affect entire ocean basins.

As great as the tsunami itself may be, the further analysis must be directed to the underlying explosion which promoted the tsunami. It is odd to feel that in the vastness of an ocean one is but a scrap of land which may be overcome in a moment.

Earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and other underwater explosions (including detonations, landslides, glacier calvings, meteorite impacts and other disturbances) above or below water all have the potential to generate a tsunami.

Even more critically is the recognition that the cause of the disturbance has nothing whatever to do with oneself. It is not often that the cause and effect of life is so stunningly separate from oneself. Every day we fashion that the outcome of our behaviour, of our conduct and of our decisions has a bearing upon our lives. Suddenly however one is awoken by a quake that “lasted I’d say 8 seconds…but it seems forever when it happens”. Though the result of the quake may ultimately wash over oneself and while it is natural to assume there isn’t a relationship between the cause and the effect – there is indeed a relationship but of what nature?

I astonish myself that as one devoted to logic and reason I am at times so entirely and miserably lacking in observation. Nor is this to suggest there is by contrast an adherence to the visceral form of cognitive understanding. There is a reason “There’s a sucker born every minute“. Am I that sucker? Have I been duped and misled?

“There’s a sucker born every minute” — P.T. Barnum’s most famous words. He is widely considered to be one of the best purveyors of entertainment in history — a genius in sales and marketing — and these words have become somewhat of a legacy. But did he ever really say them? As it turns out, we may be suckers for believing this after all.

It may be that one’s own lack of illegitimacy promotes a confusion when it arises. One does after all have a different expectation. This is apparently the case when misconstrued for the wrong reasons. In short, just because you haven’t any nefarious objective doesn’t mean others do not! Like the tsunami the disruption below the surface will eventually disclose itself quite independently of your assistance. There is besides no way that one can compete with Nature. This must be the guiding principle since it illustrates not merely where to go but more precisely where not to go. Inevitably there are indicia of what is going on under the surface, sometimes even very direct accreditations which are inexplicably brushed aside. But as I say, it all eventually surfaces. And that’s when you start making it real.

There is nothing wrong with making it real.  Nature has forever been explained as indiscriminate in whatever it does. Thus to suggest that for some reason the rules should somehow be changed to accommodate you is utter nonsense! Instead one must awaken to the reality. There is certainly an element of entertainment in the endurance and examination of reality. But it requires a careful distancing from the source. There is normally very little to be gained from a false alarm particularly if it were shrouded in deceit and deliberate obfuscation. Oh, saucy Worcester, dost thou lie so still?

 

Miller: Oh, God, fair cousin, thou hast done me wrong. (He dies)
Now is steel twixt gut and bladder interposed.
Cook: Oh, saucy Worcester, dost thou lie so still?
Enter Bennett
Bennett: Now hath mortality her tithe collected
And sovereign Albany to the worms his corpse committed.
Yet weep we not; this fustian life is short,
Let’s on to Pontefract to sanctify our court.