After the Rains

I sometimes joke about calamities as they are going on because it's one of the ways in which I manage the stress and disappointment that comes from its interference with my plans. Afterward, when the damages are tallied, I feel remorse for having laughed at something that has affected people so tragically.

I no sooner joked about an earthquake we had here a few months ago and a major earthquake hit Chile. And the recent fun that I had with our Tropical storm has come back to remind me that while it helps me personally to laugh at my own situation, it is no laughing matter.

There are people who lost their homes and lives from volcanic lava as was the case here in Antigua just before the storm and from mudslides as was the case all over Guatemala when just days later we were hit by Tropical Storm Agatha.

I have friends in both the Panajachel area and in the Antigua area who were involved in search and rescue and getting aid to people who were not just looking for "stepping stones to cross the river that was the street" but whose cars were in the river and whose homes were buried in the mud. To them, I say thank you!