Earthquake!

There's something so unsettling and unnerving about an earthquake. We had one tonight. A 5.6 over a hundred miles away. But we felt it pretty good. They come on so quickly. And you don't know how long they will last. And you don't know if it's "The Big One" or if you can laugh about it later.

Well, this wasn't The Big One. But it was a good shaker. It started off with a jolt, then wobbled from side to side for a few seconds, then stopped. You are aware that you just had an earthquake and hope it's over. But no. About then, it starts shaking gently then gathers a bit of momentum and shakes harder.... then stops!

Now you can take a breath and let it out and realize, Nope, not The Big One! But by now my parrots are screaming and thrashing in their cages, the big macaws fleeing from their perches and clutching the cage bars, screaming their heads off in fear. My blue and gold is usually hyperventilating with fear and I have to spend five or ten minutes telling them softly, "It's all right. You're all right." Slowly, their breathing slows and their eyes quit dilating. But my parrots do not like earthquakes!

I missed the Big One in '89. Bill and I were in Baja and had to hear about it on the radio. The only radio station we could dial in down there in those days was one in Salt Lake City and they made it sound like Sodom and Gomorrah had fallen into the Pacific Ocean and good riddance. I was frantic until we finally heard some better news from a San Francisco station, caught in random snatches over static airways that it wasn't as bad as it sounded. I remember spending the whole night hunched over a crackly transistor radio, praying my family was okay in Northern California until we could finally drive into the nearest town the next day and make a phone call home.

But earthquakes? No, I don't like them. I don't like big surprises and I really don't like my pleasant life jerked to a halt and maybe have to go into survival mode. I guess there's a use for them. Maybe they are God's little wake up calls not to get too complacent or set in our ways for you could find a whole new adventure waiting for you after a good jolt. Go about your business, live your life, but be prepared to change in a hurry if The Big One shows up.