Zan decided in the morning that she wanted to return to her house; living here as a refugee with her two cats was really stressful for all of them. After yoga, we helped her pack her belongings into the kei-truck and drove her down the road to her almost perfectly fine (slightly crushed and still covered with trees) kominka at the bottom of the landslide and cedar tree pile. I’m not sure going back there to live right now is the choice I would have made, but Zan’s tough and stubborn and not afraid of future risks like I am. Her smile was bright when we dropped her off and her cats ran free among the fallen trees.
At 15:30, the power came back on. We were running the generator to try to get some work done online. It was a delight to turn it off. As helpful as it’s been for the past few days, it is stinky and noisy. I am thrilled to be able to flip a switch and have light. I even ran the dryer for some towels that hadn’t quite dried in the sun. Electricity is a luxury that I am appreciating more than usual.
I think my body knew we were done with the stressful part of this experience and it decided to fall asleep at 19:15. I didn’t realise how tired I was. I slept straight through ‘til morning.
Our neighbors, Zan included, have a long way to go to recovery. Trees need to be cleared and roofs need repair, but it is going to take some time. Like the electrical recovery, lack of manpower and materials are a problem. It’s estimated that 20% of the roofs in Chiba need to be fixed or replaced. I saw a photo of one village nearby where every single roof was covered in a blue tarp to keep out rain. That’s a lot of work to be done. Volunteers are coming in to help. I hope they are well rested.
