The Rock
Posted by Moose on October 31st, 2007. Filed under: Adventures.Tonight I was staring into my laptop, as I do, when the house began to sway. Bless you, ominous California sway! You remind me that I don’t live in a place with tornadoes or hurricanes. Well-versed in the etiquette of earthquakes, I stayed in my chair and tipped my head up, perhaps expecting a tectonic update to flash across the ceiling. Earthquake etiquette rule #1: wait until the dog’s fur is dusted with plaster before bothering to stand under something sturdy. Most earthquakes are quite small, a few seconds of shaking before the earth settles and you return to your perusal of I Can Has Cheezburger The New York Times.
Tonight, the house didn’t stop shaking. It kept going. And going. And then it went some more. The earthquake lasted 60 seconds at the most, but it’s amazing how frantically your brain can skitter in a minute. Where are my shoes? Where’s the dog? What’s our bottled water status? Stop moving already, I want go back to watching The West Wing Masterpiece Theatre. Is anything going to fall on my head? Why do I mock people who stock up on weeks worth of Boston Baked beans? WHO’LL BE MOCKING WHO WHEN I’M BEGGING FOR A CAN OF BEANS?
Then it stopped. The dog stretched and flopped back onto her bed to return to her daily 18 hours of sleep. We peered out the window onto the street where a few people milled about nervously, but no power lines were on fire and no tree branches obstructed the progress of the neighborhood drug dealers.
About 12 seconds after the shaking stopped, we learned via the magic of the interweb that the earthquake hit Alum Rock at a respectable 5.6. Alum Rock is about 15 miles from my hometown of San Jose. So I called my mom to commiserate and make sure she wasn’t, you know, dead. Not that this was likely, but you never know. She could have been beaned by a precariously shelved dictionary. But my cell phone wouldn’t connect. Not helpful when on a Not Dead Mission. So I tried the land line. Do you still have a land line? I wouldn’t, except that cell phone service rolls over and dies at the slightest hiccuping sign of emergency.
In San Jose, the earthquake was a sharp, quick jolt that made the ground rise up and the trees shake. By the time it got to San Francisco, it was more like a gentle rocking. Nothing in our house broke, just shivered on shelves. My mom lost a vase and the crack over the fireplace from the ’89 earthquake may have gained some new real estate.
Maybe I’ll buy a can of beans tomorrow.
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October 31st, 2007 at 12:26 am
I held the china cabinet up for safekeeping. And I worried about the butter plate, which was not IN the china cabinet. Guess what David is going to secure to the wall no later than this weekend? I can’t believe we forget, but the moment I heard that telltale creak in the corner of the room, I got uncrisscrossed, plopped that laptop down and prayed for my Mikasa. Wind chimes from someone related to you went swaying ever so gently, which was, in some very odd way reassuring, seeing as how in another scenario, namely El Nino storms tearing trees out of the ground or something, my windchimes would have made ugly clanging sounds from all the violence.
Things important to me might have broken as they fell off the fireplace mantle in particular this evening, but since I have junk sitting on top of every inch of tile in that general area, there were soft books and boxes and whatnot to cushion their fall. Mountains of laundry were not so lucky.
Glad you’re ok, too, swaying up there two floors above me.
October 31st, 2007 at 6:29 am
I grew up in SJ (South and Almaden) and I have to say that I kind of miss the earthquake thing. I am far calmer about earthquakes than these dang tornado warnings that flash across the screen with regularity during the spring and perhaps a warm fall day here in IN. I too usually just sat where I was except of course during the ’89 earthquake when it dawned on me that THIS was not going to be pretty and my house jumped out and tried to knock me over after my lazy hazy brain finally realized THIS WAS BIG! I do not miss earthquake drills however!
October 31st, 2007 at 9:42 am
My boyfriend, a SF native, called to tell me about the quake…is it sad that my initial reaction was “I can’t wait to move to the Bay Area and experience my first!”? (That one time in college in Tennessee when a 4.9 hit Atlanta and I slept right through it so does not count!)
October 31st, 2007 at 9:46 am
Re-thinking my plans to move to San Diego. Fires and earthquakes, oh my. But then, I do live in the direct path of the world’s largest active volcano, Yellowstone which, if it erupts, will melt both me and my 3 year supply of baked beans in seconds. Hmmm. Death by molten lava or getting beaned by a dictionary?
Tough call.
October 31st, 2007 at 11:11 am
You crossed out The West Wing to fake-fill-in Masterpiece Theater?! I don’t think The West Wing is shameful enough to cross out. In fact, I would cross out whatever I was watching and write in The West Wing.
…And then it would turn out I was actually watching 101 Zaniest Celebrity Plastic Surgery Bloopers on E! And then I would cry.
October 31st, 2007 at 11:14 am
Being from non-earthquake territory, the thought of these makes my insides cringe. The ground is not supposed to move! Well, except when you live close enough to the artillery range that everything moves when the boys are playing. Glad you didn’t need to beg for beans!
October 31st, 2007 at 1:59 pm
I was a kid in the 89 earthquake. The silver lining of earthquakes (at least to kids): my dad let me eat all the ice cream, while the power was out.
And the only book that fell off our bookcase during that quake (seriously, this is true) was an earthquake fact book.
I’m glad you’re okay, and that your mom is too.
October 31st, 2007 at 2:25 pm
Sorry, this has nothing to do with your post (not that I don’t care about earthquakes, because I do, and am happy to live in earthquake-free New England) but I am jealous because I think your cookie looks better than mine. It looks like it would be kind of warm and chewy and the chocolate chips would be all melty, and wow, I guess it’s time for a snack.
Also, I have that cookie cutter and have used it on many occasions.
October 31st, 2007 at 3:09 pm
You reminded me to look at the crack from the ’89 earthquake. You’re right. It DID gain some new real estate. Do you really think the living room needs repainting?!?
November 1st, 2007 at 12:27 am
That crack from the ’89 earthquake will be just fine . . . all you need is a gallon or two of silicon seal and it’ll fix it right up. Then you can paint over it — sorta.
November 1st, 2007 at 9:05 am
I, too, am happy to live where earthquakes happen rarely. Had I been in your shoes, I surely would have shat my drawers.
November 1st, 2007 at 12:02 pm
Mmmm, beans.
(Glad nothing broke. And that you assessed your water bottle supply. I’ve only felt the earth quake once in my entire life. And I didn’t even realize what had happened until someone pointed it out to me.)
November 1st, 2007 at 6:46 pm
You even manage to turn an earthquake story into a hilarious post. Glad everyone is okay.
November 2nd, 2007 at 12:28 am
Pamsterish: That is precisely why I never clean the house. To prevent, um, breakage in case of an earthquake. Yes.
Christina: I think I would expire on the spot if I was ever within 60 miles of a tornado.
Kristin: Forget rice-a-roni, earthquakes are the ultimate San Francisco treat. The crab’s pretty good too.
Kerflop: Earthquakes have far less in the way of molten lava. That recommends them to me.
Josh: West Wing becomes shameful when you’re at the library every second day, just to check if your reservation has come in, because OH THE CLIFF HANGER. Seriously, this show has eaten up months of my life.
Jhianna: I think it sounds more frightening than it actually is. And it’s over so quickly. The thought of a hurricane that rages for days is enough to make me weep under the coffee table.
Jennie: I was in 7th grade during the ’89 quake. We all got to stay home from school the next day. Almost as good as a snow day.
One Smart Cookie: Subliminal messaging at its pixelated best. Who needs a glass of milk?
Mom: The crack adds character.
Dad: I am not reassured by the “sorta”.
Sphincter: The upside is that we don’t have to deal with much in the way of glaciers or tornados.
Kerrianne: You know, beans DO sound good. Hmmm. With some ham and molasses….
Bohemiangirl: Thanks!
November 5th, 2007 at 10:27 pm
Oh girl, I am SO not a fan of the earthquake. Luckily, I haven’t experienced much yet since my move out to SoCal. Funny thing, this weekend we were in NM and stuck on a soft bed and every time I tossed or moved, the hubby thought it was an earthquake — it was a very shakey bed.