 Earthquake Alert! |
 In her imagination, Pat sees neighbors run for their lives--not from the earthquake, but from the sight of her running outside in nothing but her bright yellow underpants. |
wear subtle underpants!
By PATRICIA J. GEISTER
of TheColumnists.com
Earthquakes and small tremors are the norm in this area. This is Seattle, after all. We have to expect that on the Left Coast. St. Rupert the Husband and I live on a busy street. Sometimes it's more like a minor freeway. If the glassware in a cupboard rattles slightly, I blame it on a passing big truck.
On February 28, 2001, a serious earthquake did happen. Now I'm cured of suspecting big trucks and low flying planes. I had just gotten out of the shower and was headed into the living room. My clothes were on the end of the divan. I sat down at the exact moment the trauma began.
A loud rumbling came from outside like an oncoming train. All of a sudden there was a reverberating sensation, combined with the feeling of our windows shaking, glass rattling. I thought it was a bad hailstorm. Then the house began swaying, shaking. The bookcases on each side of the fireplace jumped up and down. It felt like the house went from swaying in all four directions to a vigorous hula. Following that I thought the house and I were being pounded into the ground.
Rascal the Tomcat was asleep at the other end of the divan. He never woke. Silly Lily Long Tail, his grandchild, came running through the room before the quake hit its highest point. She remained spooked four hours later.
I knew it was an earthquake. Even so, logic totally escaped me. In all my adult life, family, friends, co-workers, have always turned to me in times of crisis. I was the calm, cool, and collected one. Forget that! One part of my mind was saying, "Get yourself braced in a doorway." The other part was answering, "I'm too scared to move! You get to the doorway!"
At the top of my lungs I yelled out loud, "Oh, God! Make it stop!" Seriously, I was expecting the house to fall down around me. I looked up at the ceiling, afraid that it was going to collapse.
Rupert came calmly down the stairs once it stopped. He took one look at me and started laughing. All I had on were my bright yellow underpants and blue slippers. I didn't think it was funny. Okay, well, maybe a little. Imagine if I'd had to run outside for help. Not a pretty sight!
He said it was even worse upstairs. How would he know? The last time I looked, we didn't have any seismographic equipment up there.
There was no visible serious damage to our house. One fear was that perhaps our underground sprinkler system was affected. Then, too, our basement may have new leaks in the already known wet area. This nearly 100-year-old house was built with the best available materials. Different grades of supplies didn't exist. How sad that those days are gone forever.
Seismologist experts at the University of Washington had predicted this. Every time the local media had a slow news day they ran earthquake stories. Headlines would shout, "Be prepared for earthquake of large magnitude."
If this was "the big
one" I'm glad it's over. Rascal and Rupert are unflappable.
Lily and I are not thrill junkies. For several weeks I practiced
dressing quickly. When and if CNN comes to interview me, I intend
to look my best.
© 2002 by Patricia J. Geister. The illustration is from
IMSI's Master Clips Collection, 1895 Francisco Blvd. E., San
Rafael, CA, 94901-5506, USA.
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