We interrupt this gardening series to say:
At four in the morning my husband and I were awakened by 5.2 magnitude earthquake.
At first I thought my husband had gotten up and for some reason was shaking the bed. Then, as I noticed he was still lying silent beside me, and the rocking increased, and I realized that in fact my whole house was shaking, my thought process went thusly:
This is an earthquake.
But, we don't have earthquakes here.
Well, actually, we do, sometimes, but I don't want to think about that because that makes this even more scary.
Could it be something else? Like a gas explosion or something in a nearby neighborhood?
No, this is definitely an earthquake.
And then my husband sat up and said, "This is an earthquake!"
Just as I was priming to jump out of bed and run to my son's room to take him outside or under a doorway or something, the earthquake stopped.
The kid slept through the whole thing.
Meanwhile, I couldn't sleep for another hour. I just lay in bed with my eyes open, reminding myself over and over again that the big earthquakes are supposed to come first and any shocks after that are supposed to be minor.
And before any of my California readers mock me, note that this Midwesterner faces down house-flattening thunderstorms, roaring tornadoes and rushing flash floods on a regular basis without batting an eye. But an earthquake? That's just NOT NATURAL.
(Except when it is. But let's not remind me of that. Okay?)
11 comments:
That was an earthquake? I woke up about 4-something because the bed was shaking but I thought it was my husband moving around in the bed. Went right back to sleep. Damn. That Ambien IS working!
But yes that stuff IS scarey. Definitely doesn't happen very often in these here parts.
You mean you guys get earthquakes too? I was hoping to change unpredictable earthquakes for more predictable tornadoes. Shoot, now I am just adding more danger to the mix.
Honey, we need about four more quakes exactly like that one. The New Madrid fault is WAY overdue and we could use lots more presssure relief on those plates in a way that causes little or no damage.
... Says the guy staying in Cleveland. HA!
Don't worry Awesome Mom; our unpredictable earthquakes only happen once every 20-30 years.
Tornadoes though, definitely need to look out for those.
Jae, only in your head would all of those thoughts occur at 4:37 in the morning. All I said was "what the hell is that?", rolled over, and fell back asleep.
Me too! I was freaked.
It barely woke me. I heard the closet rattle but I went right back to sleep! I've been so sleep deprived lately I'd sleep through anything!!!! Now the aftershock freaked me out this morning. I was at work when it happened. It seemed to last FOREVER.
Actually, Dwight, that earthquake wasn't even on the New Madrid fault, according to the U.S. Geological Survey site. So New Madrid is still building pressure, not releasing it.
Sorry Jae. Dwight just freaked me out when I wasn't originally that freaked out so I had to try to freak Dwight out back. You got stuck in the middle.
Now I am just freaked the hell out period. I am not ashamed to admit that for a split second (or 10) I tried to will it to stop with Jedi mind powers.
Must have been weird! Glad you're OK.
I slept through it as well, but then again, I was down visiting friends in FL. So, I guess it was quick? I've never been through one, but you're right, we do get our share of craziness here in the Lou.
(I'm a new visitor by the way & fellow St. Louisian & blogger.)
Sorry about your car, that sucks.
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