It is the Big One?

Yesterday morning, as I was waking up and getting ready for work, I listened to a local radio station and the DJ’s were discussing the fact that their respective pets had been acting crazy for the past couple days and how studies show that animals can sense major events, such as earthquakes, and act oddly for up to a week prior to the events. Not a major concern except that we’re on the New Madrid Fault and they’ve been predicting the “Big One” for many years now. People were calling in from all over Southern Indiana and Southern Illinois saying that their pets were acting oddly too.

I went to work, though, not giving it another thought. But then last night, as I’m settling down for the evening, Sophie and Gizmo are acting like someone gave them a big ol’dose of wacky pills. They chased each other up and down the hallway, one would jump up on the dresser and then pounce on the other from the height, one would run up to the top of their kitty condo (6 ft high) and then jump down on the bed and bound after the other one. Truly, nothing more than they usually do, only this was to a factor of 10! Even after Sophie got tired and crawled on my chest for a nap, while I was catching up on the Daily Show and Colbert Report from the previous night, Gizmo still was at it. In fact, at one point, he was on the top of the condo and jumped right on her (right on me). Her claws dug in and she ran, then his claws dug in and he ran after her. My chest and tum area look like they’ve been run through a cheese grater!

Of course the conversation from the radio that morning came to my mind and as I’m lying there in the dark trying to go to sleep all I can think of is if the Big One comes during the middle of the night, is it going to knock that big heavy picture hanging above my bed off and bean my noggin. Long time readers of my life will remember that we had an earthquake about a year or so ago in the middle of the morning, and it woke me up. We had aftershocks for months afterward.

I don’t know if we can expect one in the next week or so, but I’m keeping my feelers on alert in case we do. And what with the way Soph and Giz are acting, I just wonder what the fish would be doing if my brother-in-law hadn’t sent them all on a ride on the giant porcelain wave the other week. Hmm..

If the House is a Rockin'...

Ok, so about 4:30 am (CDT) this morning we had an earthquake (5.2 on the Richter). Well, the center was somewhere in Southern Illinois, about 66 miles from Evansville, but it sure felt like it was right here!

It woke me up and in the fog that is my brain at that time of the morning, it sounded like the cats were playing/fighting on the 6-foot kitty condo that is right beside my bed. I rolled over to yell at them to quit it, and I realized they were not ON the condo. In fact they were nowhere to be found. So the infamous sixth sense that animals have about these things obviously made them run for the hills. Now, if only I can convey to them the importance of warning ME before disappearing, then I'll be fine.

Anyway, after the fact that they weren't the cause of the noise percolated thru my brain, I realized that my bed was shaking and the closet doors were rattling. I decided it must be an earthquake. About that time it stopped, I rolled back over and went back to sleep. :) My last lucid thought before going back to sleep was that at least we'd have something to discuss at work today. I'm very brave at that time in the morning, obviously, nothing comes between me and my sleep.

So here I am, at work, and as predicted, we're talking about it, well that and sundry other stuff, when along comes ANOTHER quake! At least this one was much lower strength (4.5 according to the USGS), but its center was 6 miles from where the earlier one was. My bravery is gone, now. I'm sitting here and my heart is still racing over it. I'm not sure how easy it will be to make my mind go back to work-related things...