The "Big Shake" Story

It was an ordinary day. Sitting in front of my computer, reading other blogs and searching the travel forums to see what is going on in the Caribbean. Reading again the posts about the earthquake that just took place yesterday on the island of St. Martin. Then, as I was just about finished with the article, my computer moved slightly on my desk. Then the calendar on the bulletin board above my computer started to sway. And, the chair that I'm sitting in, that has rollers on it, started to move across the plastic carpet protector I have it on. With me in it! Right away I knew I was doing more than reading about an earthquake. I WAS EXPERIENCING ONE! Hopped out of the chair, ran to the family room, scooped up up the cat, and headed out the back door. After leaving the house I hurried to the end of my driveway. I could still feel some slight movement. I looked up and down the street. No one in sight. Aren't you supposed to get out of buildings when an earthquake strikes, I thought to myself. Where was everyone else? The building across from my drive is a dentist's office and there are maybe 20 cars in the parking lot, but not a single person standing outside. Did I really feel something, or was I imagining it after reading so much about the one on my computer screen. Went back in the house and called my wife; she felt it at the PRC where she works. Just then I heard a strange noise in the living room. It was our old mantle clock that had a quarter-hour chime to it. I had stopped the pendulum years ago, since it woke Carol in the middle of the night most nights. It was chiming on the half-hour. The quake was strong enough to shake the clock and start the pendulum again after all that time. That's when I turned on the weather channel and saw the "Breaking News" across the screen. The 6.9 magnitude quake was centered northwest of Richmond, VA. Shook Washington DC and was felt in quite a few states. Luckily, no major damage in my area, but some occurred in the DC area as well as in Virginia. Jumped back in front of my computer and added a thread on a travel forum about the earthquake, and within 10 minutes it had over 30 comments about others feeling the same thing I did. One person from Canada replied he felt the ground shake. Been a busy couple of days for the Weather Channel with the hurricane approaching the US and now with the earthquake. And, instead of reading about it, I am typing my own experiences about MY earthquake. It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.