Tiny Tsunami! Did You Say Salami? Andrew Said, 'Baloney'!

   Yesterday there was a tsunami warning. We were asked to evacuate our seaside home as a precaution.

Instead of going to a community center away from the coast, I decided to instead go to the roof of the science center next to our house. Andrew was a bit bored by the wait, since his friends were at the community center.

At the appointed time, all we saw were a couple waves-- no bigger than the current sets rolling in, just a different pattern-- so Andrew's reaction wasn't too surprising.

"If I throw a big rock in, will that qualify as a tsunami?'

"No, They're from earthquakes."

"If a meteorite hit the ocean, would the wave it causes be called a tsunami?"

"Um, I guess."

"If that little wave was a tsunami, and a meteorite can make a tsunami, then why isn't my ripple a tsunami?"

(This was an obvious test of the limits of logic and my sanity.)

"Don't be silly." (I'm told that this is what fathers are supposed to say when they can't think of anything else to say.)

[Photos: Yaizu Discovery Park rooftop view of coast; Salami rolling in-- photo forwarded from Kyle, also the source of many recent quotations-- thanks Kyle.]