'I feel the earth move under my feet' as I 'shake rattle and roll.'
Yep, we had an earthquake. Please don't think from my first sentence that I'm treating a disaster facetiously. It's how I deal with panic. I run through a mental medley of songs that could apply to earthquakes when I'm in one. Instead of running in a circle screaming, "AaAAAaaAaaA!" I'm moving in time to the music, toward the exit.
At 3:26 on Sunday morning (according to my old 'close enough' clock radio) I got to the second verse of, "I Feel The Earth Move," and the motion stopped. Nothing fell, nothing broke. Cancel the panic, soothe the cats, go back to bed. All we lost was sleep, because one doesn't go back to sleep after an earthquake. One relives the frightening moment.
After the initial jolt all I felt was rolling motions. The bed rocked me back and forth the way I wish massage chairs could do. I'd have enjoyed it except that's not possible when you worry that another jolt might bring the roof down on your head as the gas line snaps and everything ignites. I jumped out of the 'massage bed' in case 'the sky came tumbling down.'
The pictures and stories from the Napa Valley area are pretty frightening. A '6' in a populated area is no joke and I am extremely grateful for building codes. I've seen pictures of places that have no building codes, and I'm reminded why it's good to live here.
Speaking of reminding, I'm also reminded that our earthquake preparedness is as old as the house and needs many updates. I need to get to work on (what I call) the 3 S's:
Secure your stuff - Brace the furniture, arrange stuff such that things don't fall on you
Save your doggone soul - How fast can you get out? Can you grab essentials on the way out?
Stockpile supplies - Food? Water? Meds? Batteries? Clothes?
It's definitely time for us to 'get our S's in gear,' because this whole metropolitan area contains fault lines. Here by the Bay, 'rock and roll is here to stay.'
No comments:
Post a Comment