"What the caterpillar calls the end of life, wise men call a butterfly."

Earthquakes are a way of life for many people. I remember a quake in Missouri when I was a kid that knocked down our next door neighbor's wall. In Japan, I survived the Kobe quake that killed 5,000 people. Here in coastal California we get 2 or 3 good shakers a year, and everybody is waiting for 'the Big One' that will take out L.A. or San Francisco.

So, it's a sobering reminder for me to 'be prepared' when I read the morning headlines and see "Tens of thousands of Japanese huddled in makeshift emergency shelters today after a string of earthquakes in northern Japan flattened homes, toppled bridges and derailed trains, killing at least 21 people and reportedly injuring 2,000 others."

We were on the phone with my mother-in-law last night who lives in Western Japan. No problems there. But... it's only a matter of time.