What Kerstin Jeska-Thorwart remembers is the silence. No birds chirping, no dogs barking, no car engines revving. Nothing. “I’ve never heard such a silence before, and never since,” she says. “I knew something must have happened.”
It was 9:35 the morning after Christmas 2004, and in Sri Lanka, it was a Poya Day, a Buddhist public holiday held every full moon. Jeska-Thorwart, a lawyer from Germany, was on vacation in Hikkaduwa, on the island’s southwestern coast. Any other morning of her holiday she and her husband would have been on the beach, but today they stayed back at their vacation home, up a small hill about a half-mile from the water’s edge, to clean and prepare for guests.
After a few minutes, sound returned, as though it had been switched on. Now she heard people running, crying. She went down the main road to see what had happened. She saw people in swimming suits, shoeless, covered in blood.
They told her there was a big wave.
The tsunami, as she later learned, was caused when an earthquake with the estimated force of 23,000 atomic bombs rattled the floor of the Indian Ocean. The seabed rose 10 feet, displacing 7 cubic miles of water. A wall of water, in some places up to 100 feet high, slammed into countries throughout Southeast Asia and as far away as Africa. All told, more than 230,000 people died in 14 countries, and 1.7 million were left homeless. More than half of the dead were in Indonesia, followed by Sri Lanka, where 35,000 people were killed.
In defense of the birthday pie - Columnist challenges societal norms with a new birthday dessert
By Jeff Rumage
It's my birthday, and I'll eat pie if I want to.
Yes, this is the bold new idea I am advocating this week as I celebrate my 31st birthday today, March 24. After more than three decades of being brainwashed by the baking industry, I am calling on everyone to consider a new birthday treat that does not require frosting or candles.
My weighty decision is based in part on the growing popularity of Pi Day, which our newsroom celebrated on March 14 with several different types of pie. Named after the unending mathematical enigma starting with 3.14159, the holiday is just the latest in a similarly unending number of distractions surrounding my birthday.
Every year, my birthday is eclipsed by St. Patrick's Day hangovers from the weekend prior. Now this year, the weekend after my birthday is targeted with an early Easter. As you can see, Pi Day was the last straw. Always proactive, I decided to take ownership of this new-fangled pie holiday and fold it into my birthday celebration.
Here is the information for hotel reservations only for our District Conference. Attendees need to make their own reservations with the hotel separate from the activities and meals of the conference. Details and prices for meals/activities will be out shortly.
The rates are per night - May 13, 2016 and May 14, 2016. Room blocks will be held until April 13, 2016. This is a Road America Race Weekend so the facility will be busy.
Reservations can be made by calling 877-531-3013. Mention District 6270 Conference. Go to www.osthoff.com to view rooms.
To register and/or see room information click here.
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Here is the information for hotel reservations only for our District Conference. Attendees need to make their own reservations with the hotel separate from the activities and meals of the conference. Details and prices for meals/activities will be out shortly.
