Tsunami/Migraine/motion sickness

Last night, I was sitting on the couch with my son, watching the Discovery Channel. They had two programs on about the Dec. 26th, 2004 Tsunami.

One program was about the researchers who were trying to figure out why this tsunami was so big. They were exploring along the fault, and had their theories, but needed confirmation. In the end, they found a huge, 12 meter sheer wall of sediment that had been pushed upwards, and that was miles and miles long. Sediment which would not have lasted terribly long, so was very recent. They confirmed that it dated to the earthquake, and had displaced the sea by that height, causing the deadly, and terrible tsunami. They ended the program with the note that only half of that fault had displaced in the Dec. 26th tsunami, with the other half still left to break.

By the end of this program, I had a slight headache. No biggie.

The next program was heart-wrenching. They followed the stories of several survivors, two of them children just a bit older than my son. Lots of home video.

One video was taken by a man who was swept away, and it took me a few moments to figure this out. Another was taken by a man who was running with his wife and two children, desperately trying to get to higher ground. Both had obviously forgotten they were recording, as the cameras bounced wildly, catching glimpses of feet, and debris. The scariest was when you realized that they were all of a sudden running in water. Then you can hear his daugther crying that she wants to go home, as they make it to their second floor room in their hotel.

A third video was taken by Thais, who were capturing the curious way the tide had suddenly gone out. They were up high, in order to get the best shots. You can hear the panic in their voices as they try to warn the tourists to get off of the beach, as they can see the wall of water coming in. They scream as they watch one man, who has stubbornly refused to move, be swallowed by the water.

This was such a compelling program, but before 20 minutes was out, I was so sick that I felt like I was going to throw up. This has happened before. The video motion gave me a migraine, and motion sickness. My son was upset when I said the TV had to go off, and that I was going to bed, and that I needed quiet. I crawled into bed with my clothes on, covered my head, even though it was dark, and waited for the tylenol to kick in enough for me to sleep.

I woke up at 2:30 am, and felt better. I was able to go back to sleep without a pillow covering my ears and eyes.

This morning, I slept in, and am feeling pretty good. Or at least I was until I realized how much I have to do today...