numb in New York

I am sad that I've left Japan. (The boys and I flew to New York early Wednesday morning, Tokyo time.) I really did not believe we were in mortal danger, but what else was I going to do? Stay holed up in our apartment, counting the aftershocks and answering panicky emails from friends and family back home? The kids would not be going to school, at least for the time being (BST has closed school for the week and maybe longer). If Terry was going to work from home, which made sense, we had to get out of his hair. There was also the concern about possible food shortages -- supermarkets were already low on stock (much of what is coming into the ports is being diverted up north, where the tsunami struck) and train service was spotty at best. Besides, virtually everyone we knew (mainly expat wives/trailing spouses and their children) had already gone or were going, which had us second-guessing ourselves. (Maybe it's worse than we think? Are we being stupid?). In any case, we are at my mom and dad's, and now I can go visit my 93-year-old grandfather who's sick in the hospital. Which is a good thing.