THE BIG ONE!

A few weeks ago, when my mom was visiting, we decided to go out for lunch and stop by our favorite quilt store. I was stopped at a red light when the car started to shake. If I had to compare it to anything, I would say it felt as if someone was standing on the bumper and jumping up and down. I looked at my mom, who was on the phone, wondering if it was just me or had she felt the shaking too. Grasping for an explanation, I ask her what she just did that caused the car to shake like that. And then she asks me what I was doing to the car, thinking I was playing with the brakes or something. We keep driving to our destination, but the whole time I'm thinking there is either something seriously wrong with my car or we just had an earthquake.

Once we stop, I try my cell phone, but there is no service. Luckily my mom's phone worked because it was from out of state and I was able to call my husband. He told me there was a 5.5 quake centered about thirty miles from us.

At first I am not worried about it at all. Then we go get coffee and everywhere you turn people are talking about it. I start to worry about my animals at home. What if the gate opened, the gas is leaking, or something like that. We hurry through our errand so that I can get home to make sure everyone is okay.

After combing the whole house, we only found one casualty. It was an angel that I gave my mother-in-law for Mother's day. The poor thing's head snapped off.


In the end I am surprised that I was so calm. I have been fearing earthquakes from the moment I moved to California and besides a tiny one a year ago, that was the first real experience I had. People here always wonder why I was not afraid of tornadoes in Illinois, but it is just something I grew up with and know how to deal with the best I can. I guess it is the same way for people who have always lived here. At least people are not always talking about the "big one" when it comes to tornadoes, which is what scares me the most about earthquakes. They say it is about time for a "big one" or this was just getting us ready for the "big one." I think I would rather live with the threat of tornadoes, but that's just me.