It's 1:30 p.m. My housemates are all at work. I am alone. I hear heavy footsteps on the stairs as a giant approaches. His footsteps get louder and the force of them shakes the walls.
The giant shakes the house. My desk shakes and the monitor in front of me sways back and forth. I feel the rumbling underneath me. "This feels like an earthquake" I say out loud to no one, because there's no one here. I am alone.
I quickly turn off the computer, get dressed and evacuate the building. Once outside I want to know if any of my neighbors experienced the same tremors. But there are no neighbors around. Where are the people? Across the street two girls come walking from the library, chatting as if nothing happened. Was it only my house that shook and trembled and will it happen again?
I worry about Leslie's cat, and about Dan's tropical fish. I worry about myself, where I will go if my house falls down.
I go back up to my apartment on the top floor of a three story builing and collect a few things just in case. I turn the computer back on to get some news and I hear about Libya, a woman from Utah who's been missing and about a hurricane named Irene, a female giant, a giantess, making her way up the east coast.
Finally there is news about an earthquake in Virginia that sent shock waves all over the east. So it wasn't just my house. That's mildly comforting. They evacuated the Pentagon and the Capitol. They evacuated the White House. How do you evacuate the White House I wondered? Does everybody go out into the garden?
There was talk of aftershocks. We were told to prepare for aftershocks. How do you prepare for aftershocks? The giant is fast and dangerous and doesn't announce himself the way a hurricane does.
What's up? The east coast does not have earthquakes. Is there more to come? Hurricanes on top of earthquakes on top of flash floods. That's a mean sandwich, hard to digest.
I, for one, have decided I'm not going to worry about it. I'll take what comes and deal with it on my own. That's my best and only choice, because I'm alone.
DB - The Real Vagabond
Never give up.
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I wish I had a comfortable chair.
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SUMMER QUESTION
Summer is moving along, people.
It's a long, hot, sticky summer, so here's a hot, sticky question for you.
Same sex marriage. Should it be legal or not? If so, why? If not, why not?
dbdacoba@aol.com
16 answers so far.
You have until the last day of summer, but don't dally.
I eagerly await your answer.
DB
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7 comments:
I did hear about some earthquake somewhere over there today and I tell you I thought it was very strange. Don't think of earthquakes being on the east coast. If this was your first encounter I am sure it was very frightening. You know something is not right, but what? The solid earth feels almost liquid and things start moving or falling down. Must have felt like the twilight zone if no one else was around at the time and you did not know what was going on. Did not know they evacuated the White House and Pentagon. Yeah, where do they all go, out onto the south lawn or into the Rose Garden. You don't prepare for aftershocks anymore than you really plan for a quake. They happen. You take precautions with your home --nothing heavy hanging on walls, bookcases etc. somehow attached to the wall, some emergency kit good for a few days. Usually there is no warning with an earthquake so nothing to worry about till it happens. Be thankful you are not living on the west coast where the "big one" is expected any day.
Since I live in an earthquake zone, we have emergency stuff ready.My suggestion is to have an evacuation tote bag ready to go. Important papers, meds, flashlight,a jacket in case the weather is bad....things in a bag, so that if you have to leave in a hurry & can't come back in you'll have everything you need. Also I highly recommend bottled water & canned food that doesn't have to be cooked. Just have that on hand in your apartment in case you can stay but the power goes out. Earthquakes can be scary...I know, I've lived thru many of them. And the BIG one is yet to come....
Glad your digs passed nature's stuctural integrity test. When the Loma Prieta quake hit in '89, I was in climbing gear, trimming 30 feet up a eucalyptus tree. So scared of heights anyway, I hardly noticed it. But a friend in Santa Cruz got chased out of his house by his own toilet, which had come unbolted and leaped from room to room. Reality seems less reliable afterwards. Expect some residual jitters.
Same sex marriages should be legal because the issue of marriage is a civil issue and not a religious one. There is absolutely no reason for people who fit the legal requirements of age not to be allowed to be married.
The oft said 'it would legalize man-dog marriage' are just goofin'... the 'dog' or any non-human creature cannot consent to marriage so that is that with that nonsense.
Being alone during the earthquake... I can imagine your concern BUT the big thing is that you made it and that to exaggerate the significance would not do anyone any good...
"Finally there is news about an earthquake in Virginia that sent shock waves all over the east. So it wasn't just my house. That's mildly comforting."
I am certain this is one case where 'safety in numbers' should not apply, yet I know that if I thought for one minute that my toilet could break free...
Glad you and your home were ok from the earthquake tremors, etc. We experienced some major rumbling at our home here in SC. Thankfully all was ok. Now we just hope and pray that Hurricane Irene misses our area and all of the states on the coast line and stays further out in the waters.
There will be aftershocks, but they will be smaller than the original.
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