Tsunami

Last night while I was working at the restaurant, the tsunami center issued a warning around 7:30 pm after a huge earthquake hit the western coast of Canada.  The tsunami center predicted that all coastal areas of Hawaii would be hit by a tidal wave and initiated evacuation efforts--which includes blasting sirens for prolonged intervals.

The restaurant managers worked to spread the word among staff and guests that we would stop taking food orders so we could start closing the restaurant.

My last hour at the restaurant was frantic.  It was a scramble to get food served to the guests that were still waiting on dinner, while clearing plates and dropping checks to the guests that were done while steering them away from ordering dessert and coffee.

All of my guests were able to finish their dinners and pay up before leaving the restaurant.  Surprisingly, I made some really amazing tips on my last turn of tables despite the speedy service to get people out of the building.

After I finished my closing sidework and dropped my paperwork, I was finally able to leave the restaurant.  I have never been so grateful that I ride my bike to work than I was last night.  I stepped out of the restaurant and the traffic on Front Street was bumper to bumper as everyone cleared out of town.

I got my bike lights flashing and started to weave in and out of cars and made my way back up to my house.  I don't think I've ever biked up Lahainaluna Hill as fast as I did last night.  It was an absolute adrenaline rush squeezing through cars and blasting past pedestrians making their way up the hill.

Thankfully, our new house is halfway up a super steep hill in town--well out of the flood zone. I made it home right around 9 pm and Bryan made it home about 10--half an hour before they predicted  the first wave.  He said that on his way home he witnessed two small car accidents.  People were panicking.  Easy to do when a supposed tsunami is on their way, and Maui has the sirens blasting nonstop.

Our downstairs neighbors Will and Ashley were at home, and they were the official tsunami rescue center.  They had wine, beer and snacks, and they were waiting on their friend to arrive with steak for the grill.  More and more of our friends who live in the flood zone started to trickle in, ready to hunker down until we were given the all clear.  From our lanai we could see a banner of lights on the water from all the boats that had left the harbor to wait out the tsunami in open water.

Then--nothing happened.

Even though they predicted the tsunami at 10:30 in the evening, the tsunami center didn't cancel the evacuation orders until about 1:30 in the morning.  The tsunami center predicted a powerful surge carrying waves 3 to 6 feet high, but I think the most action Maui saw was a small wave in Kahului on the other side of the island that was only 2.5 feet above ambient sea level.

I probably didn't go to sleep until closer to four in the morning--and I was starving!  I hadn't had dinner, and I only had a nibble of cheese, a bite of steak and a few pineapple chunks during the tsunami night festivities, so when I woke up this morning I made myself a breakfast of epic proportions.

I sauteed an entire leek with half an onion, 2 cloves of garlic, an entire tomato and some kale in olive oil.  When that was cooked, I started a two egg omelette in another pan.  I tossed in some of the veggies before I folded it over, and as you can see in the photo above, I threw the rest of the vegetables on top of the finished omelette.  A sprinkle of shaved parmesan, and the omelette was complete.

But I'm still hungry.