All I can think about these past few days, all most anyone can think about, is the ever-growing crisis in Japan.  I’ve been watching and reading since late Thursday night when the earthquake first happened. Then came the tsunamis and now it’s a nuclear crisis. There’s nothing much I can write or say that hasn’t been said.  The images and video coming out of the devastated country are astounding, and it’s still hard to totally comprehend the enormity of  what is going on there. 

So I’ve been watching and wondering and feeling a little helpless.

 Karen Walrond, aka, Chookoolonks, has put together a pretty comprehensive list of places to donate or get more information at her blog: http://www.chookooloonks.com/the-beauty-of-different/2011/3/11/the-earthquake-in-japan-how-to-help.html  (plus her photographs and words are truly inspirational)

Locally a group of cultural, educational and civic organizations have banded together to create Seattle Japan Relief, http://seattlejapanrelief.com/ The plan to help not only in the immediate future, but in the long term relief efforts as well.

And if you find more places to contribute, post them on FB or your twitter feed. Thanks to social networks and technology the world is a much smaller place. And remember to hug your kids, your siblings, your parents, your friends, your dogs or cats or other animal friends a lot more these days.