This letter is from an American living in Hokkaido, Japan. I asked this longtime Peak Moment viewer and supporter what it was like after the catastrophic March earthquake and tsunami. He replied:

Dear Janaia,

We are fine here in Hokkaido. The tsunami didn’t do much harm this far
north. A few stores in the downtown area were inundated by the river
overflowing its banks. Everyone is very worried about the radiation,
however. Although the prevailing winds usually come from the north,
every now and then they blow from the south. My morning walks around a
nearby lake have a strange feel to them when I know I am downwind from
a radioactivity-leaking nuclear reactor.

Life goes on pretty much normally here. There are no shortages of
anything. A few refugees from the devastated areas have been resettled
here. I took notice of where my new university students come from; many do come from the affected prefectures, but they all insist they
suffered no losses.

One of the saddest film clips we have seen on the evening news was of
frightened cows in a barn, looking right into the camera, plaintively
mooing for lack of water or food because their owner had been forcibly
evacuated from the 20 kilometer exclusion zone (soon to be expanded to
30 kilometers) around the stricken nuclear reactors. The government
now says it will take at least another nine months to get the nuclear
reactors under control. In the meantime, 120,000 people have had to
leave their perfectly intact homes, places of work and schools. I
always imagined this scenario would occur after an act of nuclear
terrorism, but not because of stupidity.

On a lighter note, people who laughed at me when I once suggested an
abandoned school with playground be turned into community gardens are
now all saying I was right. It’s too late for the playground, a giant
electronics store was built there. Everyone now seems worried about
where their food is coming from. I guess their motivation is more to
eat radioactivity-free vegetables than community resilience which was
my motivation, but I’ll take any kind of resilience I can get! The
result has been that a neighbor has stepped forward and offered me a
free garden plot. Some of those I can still remember laughing at me
are now all full of advice: “Don’t over-till that soil, you’ll kill
the earthworms! Leave me a corner so I can grow some herbs,” and “Can
I use some of that compost you’ve been making all these months [when I
was laughing at you]?”

Levity aside, I feel very strongly that watching Peak Moment TV and
reading all the inspiring comments made by you and your readers have
given me the peace of mind to cope with this crisis. Peak Moment TV has
been preaching community resilience since forever. I hope this whole
terrible event right in the middle of a “highly developed country”
will finally wake up other people around the globe and make them
realize we can’t sleepwalk through life anymore, we have to prepare
for the worst. Peak Oil and global warming both have the potential to
make this tsunami and its aftermath look like a cakewalk.

Thank you for your concern, but most of all, I thank you and Robyn for
working so hard on every Peak Moment episode. Each one brings hope and
joy into my life!

Hoping you and Robyn are well,

Stuart

I am feeling shaken. Personally. An earthquake halfway around the planet in Japan may be touching us directly. The butterfly effect, up front and personal. This planet is one organism.

If I were to anthropomorphize the planet’s activity (which could be as ridiculous as the bacteria in my gut trying to figure out what my entire body is doing), I’d say Gaia is doing her part to minimize the life-destroying effects of human activity and get us reconnected to her. Massive quakes increasing. From less developed areas like Haiti and Chile a year ago, now to one of the most industrialized nations on the planet.

Such natural events are one sure way to get us to reconnect to the natural cycles. Like massive floods in Pakistan or England, hurricanes and droughts in Australia. Reconnecting, and then living within nature’s limits and cycles, is required for sustainability. Nature bats last. She’s showing us in spades.

Back to the up front and personal. Radioactive fallout from Japan’s three nuclear reactors, damaged in Friday’s shattering 8.9 magnitude quake, may ride on the jet stream and fall right here to the west coast of North America. On our heads, intermixed into the forecasted rain.

This quake shakes me into thinking again about emergency preparedness. Responding Saturday to Mike Ruppert’s alert, we ordered potassium iodide tablets online immediately (used to prevent thyroid glands from uptaking the radioactive iodine in the fallout.) Calls around my mom’s town found none available, and several online sites out of stock. Potent reminder about doing preparedness work *before* an emergency.

Not that preparedness is new. It’s just that now I have to think of it in a fresh light due to changing circumstances. One is our living primarily in The Little House, the mobile studio/RV, where storage space is limited.

The second is our shift to a low-grains, low-carbohydrate diet. I’ve stored plenty of lentils, beans, and rice at Lone Bobcat Woods. So my thoughts turn to storing meat and vegetables, not as easy as grains and legumes! And on our limited budget, that means canning them ourselves.

Following a link on Carolyn Baker’s daily email digest, I landed on instructions for canning butter. A brand new idea to me, and a welcome one for preserving a nutrient-dense fat. Which then leads to the need to bring the pressure-cooker canner and jars on the road in The Little House.

Which leads to thinking about other preparedness items for The Little House. The backpacking water filter. Foldable plastic jugs for water storage. The homeopathic first aid kit. And questions about where to store those. One thing leads to the next.

Emergency preparedness is now on my radar for when we return to Lone Bobcat Woods. Along with cleaning out and downsizing, assemble some emergency preparations to take along in the Little House.

After taking these steps, I turned to my sketchbook, photographing images I’ve drawn during our past eight months on the road. I assembled this collage of views from the Little House (at bottom).

I have done two things in response to my fear. I have taken appropriate action to meet what may come. And then I have soothed my heart by immersing myself in the timeless.

The county Office of Emergency Management room looked official and serious. It was packed with tables covered with laptop computers and communications equipment and a large county map on the wall. I visualized a busy urgent hubbub  in the event of an earthquake — every station staffed and lots of phone and internet calls going on.

In this local hot spot we taped an inspiring program with Bob Hamlin, program manager of the Jefferson County (WA) Department of Emergency Management, and Deborah Stinson, Community Preparedness Co-coordinator from Local 20/20, a Port Townsend local sustainability group. We had met Deborah, Judy Alexander, Steve Hamm, Sally Lovell, Scott Walker and others when we taped shows there in 2006.

Bob has been in the Emergency Management field for decades. He related being dubbed “Dr. Doom” when he brought reminders to officials and citizens about disaster preparedness. But, he quipped, “an old dog can learn new tricks.”

The “new” arrived in the form of Deborah and others from Local 2020 coming to Bob’s office with an offer to help his educational outreach efforts. Taking a lesson from Hurricane Katrina, Port Townsend residents wanted to be more prepared for emergencies.

Deb told about setting up meetings for citizens to learn from Bob and other first responders like police, Red Cross, fire department, etc. Her group then facilitated people to organize their neighborhoods, educate one another about preparedness, and map their assets (who has what tools or resources, what skills, who needs help in an emergency).

This partnership has transformed the effectiveness of the OEM and made citizens more secure. And it’s a superb model for “not re-creating the wheel” as Deb remarked in the show: Local 2020 is using resources already in place within their community.

It’s an inspiring show: “Partners in Preparedness: Neighborhoods and Emergency Responders.” Check out the Local 2020 website, Emergency Preparedness tab, for links to excellent free resources for individuals and communities wanting to follow in their footsteps. (www.L2020.org/ep).