In light of all of Haiti’s recent earthquake troubles, I suppose it’s pretty tasteless to even joke about such things.
But come on. I live in Medinah, a small, unincorporated town--my friend Colleen likens to Andy Griffith’s Mayberry--west of Chicago, and I felt it. Unusual things like this just don’t happen around here...unless, of course, you count the mom fight at the school art fair, but that’s another blog.
Anyway, I woke up about 4:30 Wednesday morning to the sound of my windows rattling and because it felt like everything around me (including me) was vibrating. I remember wondering if it was, in fact, an earthquake, but once I heard the airplane engines overhead (we live in the flight path of O’Hare airport), I figured I was being rather ridiculous...and went back to sleep.
Go figure that it actually was a quake and registered 3.8 on the Richter scale! I do notice that some books on a top shelf of one of my bookcases look
Realistically, I shouldn’t see any damage from such a minor shake...not until magnitude 5.0, according to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). For more kid- or adult-friendly information, visit http://www.fema.gov/kids/quake.htm. I just love websites and books for children. They’re so easy to understand.
Since, obviously, I am so-not-an-expert, let’s find out what in the world you should do during an earthquake? Not fall back to sleep, you say? Correct. If you’re inside: drop, cover, and hold on. “If there isn’t a table or desk near you,” FEMA says. “Cover your face and head with your arms and crouch in an inside corner of the building.” For more tips, such as what to do if you happen to be caught outside during a quake, visit http://www.fema.gov/hazard/earthquake/eq_during.shtm.
Just curious...if you live in the Chicago area, did the earth move for you? If you live elsewhere, have you ever experienced an earthquake? How did you cope? This was my first one.
Jackie, god bless your heart that you take time out of your busty schedule to keep us posted on what is going on in our community. Too bad for me, I fell asleep at about 3:50am that morning and didn't hear a thing. I think that I was too busy dreaming about me shoveling the snow all day and night. Take care and keep up the good work as usual.
ReplyDeleteThanks for reading Mr./Ms. Anonymous. Try not to shovel too much!
ReplyDeleteJack,
ReplyDeleteI'm so proud of you. Just like we discussed. Take your passion for writing and channel it into something positive. Enjoyed your first blog. Keep it up. God bless you
Thanks Di. Gotta do somethin', right? Keeps me out of trouble. :) I hope to keep entertaining readers for a while. I've actually missed facing that blank page. Been a long time....
ReplyDeleteJackie,
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed your first blog... entertaining with useful information (it's professional quality gives away your mar comm talent)! Hope you keep on blogging!
Cindy
Hey little cuz,
ReplyDeleteGood job on you first blob ( as Uncle Dick calls them). I love that you're trying new things and going outside the box. You go girl.
Love ya and miss you.
Renee'
Thanks, Renee and Cindy. Hope you'll keep on reading. So, have either one of you ever been in or felt an earthquake? I didn't even know that there's a catchy stop, drop, and roll directive for them.
ReplyDeleteHi Jackie,
ReplyDeleteI talked myself out of the fact that I felt the quake. At first I thought it WAS an earthquake, but then I convinced myself that my heart was probably just fluttering.
How neat that you're blogginging! I hope you find lots of pleasure doing what you love and what you seem to be very good at.
:) Donna
Donna,
ReplyDeleteThanks for the encouraging words. It's interesting that you, too, felt something and ignored it. It's just so unusual for Illinois--I guess we've had a few, but they are so few and far between. Did anyone else in your family notice it? All but one of my kids slept right on through.
Hi Jackie,
ReplyDeleteTo answer your question, I did wake up around the time of the quake, but did not know what woke me up. I tend to be a heavy sleeper, which is helpful for the most part, except in times like these...
Funny. But you are soooo not a stay at home feminist. Or at least I hope not.
ReplyDeleteI hope you are not a feminist I mean.
ReplyDeleteAND GARDENING IS NOT FUN LET ME TELL YOU!
Funny, Cindy.
ReplyDeleteReve, I see a need to speed up my post on feminism. I don't know what you've been learning in school about the topic, but I can't believe it would leave you with such a bad impression. Tune in later for a discussion of feminism....