It happened in Marrakesh

A home gone, people dead (WaPo image)

In the middle of the night this past Friday, the people of Morocco suffered a horrible earthquake, around 7.0 in magnitude, and now thousands of people are dead, many more injured, and nowhere to go to escape the disaster. It's horrible to see what these people are dealing with right now, and I can hardly wrap my mind around what the survivors must be feeling. It was a shallow quake, which usually brings the worst damage, and several rural villages, as I write this, have not yet been reached by rescue workers.

There are so many really awful things going on in the world right now, and the bad part is that there is nothing new here. Every single day, disasters strike around the world. This is a particularly bad one, at least from early stories coming from newscasts and pictures like the one here. 

Even with all our technology and the inventions that make modern life so much easier than it once was, it takes just one big natural disaster to wipe all that away and remind us that, here on Earth, we're still at the mercy of nature. —Neil deGrasse Tyson

We live in a time when the world is connected everywhere, and when something like this happens, anybody who reads the news learns about it instantly. Sometimes that's a good thing, but in a situation like this, I'd almost rather be blissfully ignorant. There is nothing I can do to help, other than send money to one of my favorite places to donate, such as this one at CNN or Medecins Sans Frontieres. 

Another thing I can do to help is take this as a warning to my own area, since I live on an earthquake fault line, and make sure I know what I would do if this happened to me. Currently, scientists are predicting that there is about a 37% chance that a megathrust earthquake of 7.1+ magnitude in the Cascadia Fault Zone will occur in the next 50 years. That is a bit too long for me to worry about, but I also learned that we are way overdue for the big one to hit. You can learn all about the Cascadia Subduction Zone at the Pacific Northwest Seismic Network website. I did check it out, and it made me feel grateful that I will probably not experience it, but it will come, it will happen, whether or not I am here to live through it, as those unfortunate people in Morocco are doing right now. 

I also take this as another reminder to be grateful for every single moment of happiness that I am able to enjoy. Yesterday I walked with my friend Steve to Squalicum Harbor and feel the sun on my face as I looked at all those beautiful yachts and boats of every sort, waiting in the harbor for adventures to come. I admired a beautiful four-story yacht, thinking about where I might be able to visit if I owned it. But then there is the job of upkeep, and as Steve pointed out, who needs all that room? Of course, as yachts go, it wasn't all that big, thinking of the massive yacht that I saw on the HBO series, Succession. It was also a reminder that having unlimited riches does not make people happy; those characters were miserable, but it made for a good story.

On Friday morning, I received my second Shingrix vaccine shot, three months after my first one. I am now more than 90% immune from getting shingles, it seems, but I have to say that my side effects from the shot were not minimal. Yesterday I had a low-grade fever, upset stomach, and an arm so sore and swollen that I felt a need to protect it from even a small bump. It's better today, but still sore, although the other symptoms seem to have lessened considerably. I woke feeling almost normal today.

While I was at the pharmacy, the guy who gave me the shot told me I should also consider getting the RSV vaccine (only one shot, thank goodness) for the illness that is difficult for elderly people to recover from. And now that I am officially old, I will definitely do that sometime in the near future. He also told me that both the Shingrix vaccine and RSV are "strong" and cause significant side effects in some people.

The most common side effects after RSV vaccination reported from clinical trials included pain, redness, and swelling where the shot is given, fatigue, fever, headache, nausea, diarrhea, and muscle or joint pain. These side effects were usually mild. (CDC)

Yeah, right! I just went through those same side effects and will give myself at least a month before I go through this again. (I can't imagine getting both of them at once, although people do.) There are also the more benign vaccines for seasonal flu and the next Covid booster coming up soon. Too many! But I will receive them all, with plenty of recovery time between shots. I am a believer in vaccine efficacy. Plus, I seem to catch just about everything; my body doesn't seem to discriminate when it comes to germs and invites them all in.

I do wear a mask on the bus and in crowded places, although there is yet another controversy brewing about whether they work or not. Frankly, I am not going to find out by not using one, even if they are no longer required. I have gone a couple of years now without a cold, so I am a believer. 

I was sorry I missed last Thursday's hike, especially when I learned that 17 hikers showed up to make the trip to Ptarmigan Ridge. They split up into two groups, and Al led seven hikers up Table Mountain instead, since there is a 12-person limit to wilderness groups. I'm sure they all had a great time; the weather was perfect, but I just didn't feel up to the hour-long drive each way and the rocky terrain out in full sun. Now I'm sorry I didn't go. Maybe next year.

Instead of hiking on Thursday, I went to the Senior Center and took the yoga class that is held both Mondays and Thursdays, because I am usually not available for the second one, and because I missed Monday as it was a holiday and the place was closed. It was really nice, and I ran into an old friend who was taking the class for the first time. She used to be one of the Saturday walkers and I really enjoyed catching up with her again after a few years. And I really enjoyed the class as well. You give up one thing and gain another, which seems only possible if I get out and about. I always start my weekdays with a bus trip to town and a coffee shop visit. There is my old friend John, always sitting there with his iPad, keeping a seat available for me. He's been really determined to lose weight, and he's making some progress, finally. Almost ten pounds lighter, with a bit more to go. But each pound gone means he can breathe better and has even started ballroom dancing again.

Well, that's about it for me today. I seem to have run out of time, and somehow it got away from me. I did want to end on a positive note, and John helped me do that. I do hope that the coming week brings you all good things, and that when we meet again next week, I will be firing on all cylinders, as they say. Be well, my dear friends.