I did something important today. I went to the Times web site and looked at pictures of the dead, the grieving, and the damage from the tsunami in South and Southeast Asia. I had to do it. I think that we are sanitized whilst watching telly news (and thank goodness, for my children do not need to see that stuff at this age) and listening to NPR just doesn't cut it all the time.

I also told my son about it. I tried to temper the tale with assurances that this can't happen here and I soft-pedaled the carnage. He is now obsessed with his own death, though, and continues to ask me about sharks.

Which, you know, probably have played a huge role in the inability to find the missing.

It is really too much to think about sometimes.

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