What to grab when the tsunami is coming?

[rixter]

Sitting with the wife tonight, when we suddenly heard sirens we had not heard before. At first we thought they were just testing the tsunami sirens, but soon we got a phone call that it was genuine, then loudspeaker messages telling people to head for higher ground (we live in a small coastal village). With really just a few minutes to decide, what does one grab? Just how serious is this mandolin thing compared with all of the other elements that make up one's life?

We rounded up the kids and the dog and loaded them into my jeep. I paused briefly and thought: the Collings? The Martin dread? The Snakehead? It was too much to think of grabbing them all, when there are so many other important things. As it was, I was pretty sure that it would turn out to be either a false alarm or exaggerated risk, so I grabbed the Collings, with the thought that if we were stuck for a while, that is what I would want to be playing.

People were blasting down the streets of town,some over 60 mph. We headed up into the hills and found a place pretty high up where it would take a LOT of water to reach. I started playing a bit and came up with "Deep Tsunami Blues", not quite how the Delmore Brothers played it, but inspired nonetheless. My 15 year old son took a sudden interest in it when I showed him how to play "Here Comes the Sun" and he took over as he began learning to play it. He's never been interested in mando before, so I let him and took the dog out for a run and fed my 11 year old some food I had stashed in the Jeep. Finally we called into town and learned that the alarm had been cancelled and so we headed for home.

Actually a nice outing under the circumstances, but what does one reach for when the potential for catastrophe is there? What would you do?

[John Flynn]

This is a different situation, but when my then-pregnant wife and I were in an impending serious hurricane situation, I had pre-packed up a backpack full of stuff we would need, like a little food and water, first aid stuff, flashlights, clothes, cash, etc. If we had to evacuate, we had the necessities. If I lived where you do, I would have that stuff ready to go all the time. There will no doubt be humorous responses to suggest grabbing your mando, but in a quick reaction survival situation, that really should be the last thing on your mind.

[Dan Cole]

A surf board, a raft or an Arc. Just depends on youe aquatic skill level.

[arbarnhart]

I have to agree with MJ. I would hate to have something bad happen to a family member and wonder if being 15 seconds quicker might have made the difference. In a situation where you knew it was impending but that you had enough time compounded by a likely long wait, then I would grab an instrument.

[Daniel Nestlerode]

Rixter,
I'm guessing you're in Crescent City. Man, that must have been a heck of a wake up call. I was extremely happy to know that A) there were tsunami *warnings* folowing the temblor and B) that the folks in your neck of the woods take them seriously.
Here in the Central Valley we live far enough away from the coast and the fault zones that those warnings always seem to happen to some other community. Woe unto CA if we ever get one of those warnings, because it means that the coast is already gone.
FWIW, I would have grabbed the same instrument, much to my wife's chagrin. She prefers the guitar. http://www.mandolincafe.net/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/wink.gif Practically speaking mandolins are smaller than dreadnoughts, so they'll take up less of your valuable space. Their size also makes them easier to carry. Finally, you should always grab the mando you play most because you'll miss it the most should it perish in a natural disaster.

best,
Daniel

[bjc]

When our area was hit with a Hurricane (I live on a Spit)...we rode it out..."NEVER AGAIN" is the tatto I should get as a result...but, I did send all of my nice electric guitars and my better mando inland to a friend's house...but, if it was a "get out now, run for your life" deal...it'd be the wife and the cats if we could get them in the cage...maybe throw something in a gig bag...but if it took more than a second...forget it...life is too precious...thank you for reading my random nerual firings...

[rixter]

Thanks to all who posted. Actually, I wrote that post late at night after the experience, just to put down all of the things that I was thinking, while it was still fresh. It's not that I spent a lot of time pondering what to do before leaving. It's a very strange feeling to leave your home and know there is a chance that it might not be there when you come back. Believe it or not, I've experienced such things before - once my family lost a home to a tornado; once I had to leave a guitar in an airport and was thankful that I hadn't gotten caught in crossfire before I left...I have worked in emergency services for the past 20 years now, so believe me I know how precious life is. In fact, if I couldn't have taken a lighthearted approach to things, I would have cracked up long ago. Still, as one of the things I most enjoy in life, it was no coincidence that the mandolin was sitting by the back door, waiting to be snapped up on the way out......
Cheers,
rixter