Cherry Blossoms and Back Pains…

09 Apr 2012 3 Comments

by Birdie in Life, Mother Nature, Uncategorized Tags: , , , , ,

One wouldn’t think that those two things have anything to do with one another, but both have been a part of my everyday as of late.

The trees are in full bloom now and I see them while driving around town and walking with the dog around the neighborhood.  Because the temps this spring have been SO crazy, we’re enjoying the blossoms now instead of late March.

And the back pains… I don’t know what I did, whether it was a pulled muscle during a walk with the dog or as a result of doing some spring cleaning around the house (yes, my mother would be shocked!! LOL).  Anyway, my lower back (right side) has been aching something terrible, to the point that it was hard to get to sleep the other night.  (Perhaps another shocker for my mom because I can fall asleep by the time you count to three!)  🙂

Sitting in the computer chair was the worst for a while, so I’ve been away from blogging.  Did try using the laptop in bed to write a post, but the pain didn’t ease up that way either.

Funny thing is during my bout with pain, I thought how wonderful it would be to think out my thoughts and to have them automatically typed out in a post.  Yep, there’s probably an app out there somewhere which does exactly that, right?  🙂

So, does anyone out there have any advice on how to make the pain go away?

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The quivering and quaking Earth…

01 Feb 2012 Leave a comment

by Birdie in Mother Nature Tags: , , , ,

The whole country seems to be gripped with worry lately.  The dreaded first anniversary of the Tohoku tsunami and earthquake is coming up in just over a month… and movements of this country (literal movements!) show no signs of stopping.

Several of the ladies in my class tonight were sharing their worries.  There are some of them who have parents, children and other relatives in the Kanto area.  (The Kanto area is a large area which encompasses a number of prefectures, including Tokyo, Kanagawa, Chiba, Saitama, etc.)  They were saying that there’s talk about the “big one” happening some time this year.

Of course, this whole country sits upon so many fault lines… the thing is, not ALL parts of the country have as many earthquakes as other parts.  Take where I live, for example.  Fukuoka has had two major earthquakes in the 20 years I’ve been here.  That’s practically nothing compared to the Kanto area.  (Which is where I grew up.)  But those two were quite frightening, to be honest.  It was the very first time for me to actually hear the Earth rumble!

There have been quakes near Mt. Fuji… a volcano which is dormant.  There was a rather large quake yesterday in Oita Prefecture, one prefecture over from where I am.  Today, there was one in Okinawa, another rarity.

Of course, there’s nothing to prevent disaster from happening.  There are few words which would provide comfort to those who are concerned about their family and friends.  All we can do is be prepared if something DOES happen and be ready to lend a helping hand to those who need it.