Signs of Life

Everyone is under stress. There is so much uncertainty. The ground keeps shaking. We all react differently to stress. My way of coping is to look for signs of normalcy. This is what I found today.

The daffodils in front of our house are beautiful.



Our city is sprinkled with little farms that have roadside stands. Even with the shortages found in grocery stores, there was produce available at this unattended booth. I plunked in my hundred-yen coin and with great delight carried home a bunch of spinach. Spinach isn't in short supply right now the way other things are, but it was symbolic to me of life as we knew it before the quake.

As I walked by the grocery store this morning a man was speaking to the crowds ready to enter as soon as the doors were opened. He was pleading with them not to run. While many are panicking about food, my spinach lay there placidly waiting to be purchased.


I saw some seniors walking along the road picking up trash. I thanked them for their service in the midst of uncertainty. Our conversation went right to the proverbial, "Where were you when the quake hit?" They were picking up trash and clung to a pole to keep standing. Here they were again picking up trash. We have a beautiful clean city thanks to people like that. It felt so normal to walk behind them...and good.

Thank you, Lord, for my encounters with the familiar today.