Shake, Rattle, and Roll....

I didn't sleep very well last night. California was on my mind. Well, that's not entirely true...it wasn't so much California as what the state experienced yesterday. You see, I am extremely fearful of earthquakes. Tornadoes, hurricanes, even volcanoes give you a little bit of warning that they're on the way, but earthquakes? Nope. You're just sitting there minding your own business when the ground decides to shake....sometimes very violently.

I don't remember how old I was, but it must have been at the very least 12 because my brother was still in high school (he is 5 years older than me). We were getting new carpet installed in the morning, so the floor was the bare sub flooring. My bed had casters and they weren't locked. I was sitting on my bed dorking around when the ground started to shake. Believe it, or not, the bed actually rolled a little bit! I remember my heart racing and my breathing being a little gaspy, but my mind actually said "what was that?" I think I instinctively knew and didn't want to believe. Leave it to my big brother to come racing from his bedroom in the basement yelling "HOLY CRAP! WE JUST HAD AN EARTHQUAKE!!" That was all it took....I was a screaming and scared to death idiot. I just knew we were going to die and I had fought with my dad earlier, so I went running to him with the biggest apologies a pre-teen/tween (or whatever they're called now) girl can give. My brother never felt that one. He only knew because the girl he was doing homework over the phone with felt it and freaked out a little bit.

Then there was the one we had while in high school. I can't remember if it was my senior or junior year, but I wholly remember all of us being ducked under our desks and holding the legs while the floor rolled and the walls cracked. Granted, the ducking didn't happen until the shaking was well underway. The girl who sat in the desk behind me often made mine shake with her foot, so I initially thought that was all it was. When it increased to a ridiculous velocity I turned and looked at her. "It's not me," her ashen face stated. At that time we all realized the chandelier lights our old school sported in many of its rooms were swinging. The principal came over the intercom and told us what was going on and to get under our desks. It was amazing how all of those earthquake drills we had throughout elementary school stuck in our heads! When the shaking stopped, the fire alarm sounded. That was our clue it was safe to stand back up and get out of the building.

There were some who thought this was fun, that it was silly for us to be evacuated. I think the common consensus was that it sucked. The district had been trying for years to get land & plans for a new high school because ours was old and very unsafe for earthquake conditions. It was common knowledge, and we students joked about it often. It wasn't such a funny joke when it really happened! So we all stood outside on the front lawn for hours and hours, though it was kind of funny that the traffic on State Street slowed and honked at us. Many parents even came by to make sure we were okay (mine just slowly drove by about 5 times so as not to embarrass me any further than my awkward self already had to deal with...thank you!). After umpteen hours, the structural engineers deemed the building safe and we returned to class. I think they must have done some clean up, too, because the broken glass and things that were knocked off shelves weren't there. I don't know about others, but only one of my teachers even attempted to hold academic study. He still joked, however. He was on of our science teacher, biology and earth sciences. He disliked the drill team and had no qualms saying it wasn't an earthquake, but those ladies practicing in the gym (which was across the hall from his classroom). It wasn't very nice, BUT it did put us at a little more ease.

Those two were the biggest ones I experienced in Utah (one was a 5.2, the other was a 5.5...so nothing to sneeze at). But I have family in California. It's where my brother was born, where my mom was born and grew up. It's where my dad lived for a long time, and where my aunt, uncles, and one cousin live. We visited fairly often when I was a child. I think the seismic activity was always in the back of my mind, but it never really took hold. It was just always a fun trip for me.

Inevitably, however, the ground would shake a bit in the middle of the night when we'd visit my aunt & uncle in Riverside. I can't count the times when I'd have to get up and take care of business at something like 2am, only to hear the bedrock start growling and feel the toitie wiggle under my butt. I always thought I was crazy and it was my mind playing tricks, but the next morning my dear, late uncle would always say something like "did you know we had a little trembler last night?" Or "Did anyone else feel the quake?" SOMETHING to let me know I wasn't dreaming. I don't know if he felt it or heard the pool out their bedroom door sloshing. Maybe he learned about it on early morning news shows? I don't know. Others would state their thoughts, but I readily admit that a shaking toilet in the middle of the night isn't something I'm thrilled to have experienced.....multiple times.

Hawaii was the other spot we experienced the shaking. It never much bothered me there...I guess because I was too engrossed in my work and never really felt the earth boogie under my feet because I was IN the earth. There was one that others felt when I was still living in the barracks, but I slept through it. There was once or twice that I felt it a bit in my apartment, and it caught my attention. It was then that I'd head out, even in the middle of the night, and find something to occupy my mind for a bit. I didn't want to think of all the floors above me smashing me to bits (I was a ground floor unit). I also didn't want to think about the fact I would drown if there were a tsunami. I did think about it, of course, but to have a little distraction was nice.

Last night I had a dickens of a time. I don't live in an earthquake prone area now. That's not to say that they don't happen nearby and that we don't feel them at times, but we're not actually on or near a major fault. Still, I get to thinking about the ground shaking and I get that panicked feeling. So I sat here in the dark until late because I was a little afraid to walk down the hall to my bed. Stupid, I know, but it's one of those things that actually paralyzes me with fear.....