Here we sit, giving thanks for what we have, hoping that our lives are lived in relative peace and harmony. I pray for this myself, daily. Unfortunately, prayer alone is not always going to do the trick; sometimes we have to educate ourselves about practical risks, and how we might prepare for them.

Thus, this letter: It’s about the risk of our little beautiful town being torn asunder by the impending disaster that can’t be denied. I do not want to be a dooms-sayer, but a huge earthquake is headed our way and we are ill prepared for it and the tsunami that will likely follow. We must know that we deny this reality at our peril.

You faithful readers of this rag must know that I love this home of ours. Many of you are friends. And know I don’t wish this event to ever happen, but wishing away the physics is just a figment of our imaginations. We are nearing the 320th anniversary of the last mega thrust Cascadia fault earthquake, an event that has been pinpointed to 9 p.m. the 26th of January 1700. I’m a deep student of such things, and when I tell you that we are at risk, you should heed what I say.

If the earth starts shaking, don’t panic! Don’t stay in your houses either. If the shaking lasts longer than half a minute they will likely start collapsing. If we are smart, we will soon establish a set of protocols to get to the Pioneer Park where we shall survive the impending tsunami. If the shaking lasts a minute or longer, we will be on our own for a long time.

Don’t be afraid of my warnings, but don’t ignore them either, we have much to be thankful for. We have natural towers that won’t easily crumble. Those at the north end of town, get to the History Museum, those to the south, get to Pioneer Park. You in Shelter Bay, get to higher ground immediately! Tribal members, get above Reservation Road. Snee Ooshers, run uphill!

Once the shaking stops, we may have as little as fifteen minutes before we see water coming over our beleaguered dikes and shorelines. This is a when, not if, situation! None of us can accurately pinpoint a specific scenario, but we must know that a 1700 event wiped out most of the Tribal villages.

Us white folk had not yet arrived, so we ignore these facts at our peril. Don’t fret about this thing, I’ll take that on, but don’t deny my homework either. Give thanks that you don’t live on the west beach of Whidbey, or Sequim, or Port Angeles.

With Whidbey and Fidalgo Islands between us and the worst of the waves, we will be better off than many.

God bless us as we proceed into a precarious future.