Twenty Years Removed!

You talk to anyone who has ever lived in California or somewhere on the West Coast you will at some point hear a story about an earthquake they have experienced.

Some of them mild, others moderate, and some downright deadly. Anyone else remember seeing all the damage put forth by that 7.1 temblor at 5:04pm 10/17/89 as Game 3 of the World Series was about to begin in San Francisco?

What’s funny is that no two shakers are alike. Sometimes you will feel a rolling like a wave sensation that will last up to a minute, sometimes longer.

You will invariably also deal with the sensation of someone right underneath you putting a jack hammer to the ground and rocking you in an up and down motion. It might also be a mix of the two with a jolt and a roll.

Prior to what happened last night at 11pm the last earthquake I recall dealing with was 6/29/92. Living in the OC we were about to partake in a morning of golf with friends. After 5 am a powerful shaker roared on through. The first instinct is to grab the hand of your friend/partner and keep the other on big things like a television or a piece of furniture that could come crashing on you. The number 6.7 is still infused in my caffeine-needed cranium.

Three hours later I’m on a golf course and about to putt. I hit a shot that lands about half a foot from the hole when an aftershock hits. The one time I wish the jolt moved the ball into the hole! That also frayed some nerves. It also boggled my mind how the news man would say ‘hundreds of aftershocks were the direct result of this quake’.

No history lesson here. I know there are faults everywhere in the U.S. and the world. I know that residents of Cleburne Texas have been dealing with shakes out of something referred to as ‘fracking’. That term alone makes me want to go to a Bible study. Even now 12 years in one does not associate earthquakes with Texas.

When I read that the epicenter was exactly 2 miles from where I lived, I thought, ‘Let me make a phone call’. Sure enough, my suspicions were correct.

Apologies are in order to all my Southern brethren over what happened last night. Seems Mom and Dad were praying really hard for me. I told them to cut it down (smile).

Initially I thought the jolt was from a car crash hitting a building or the young couple upstairs exercising their 1st amendment right to free speech undressed. Rather it was neither.

Equally amusing was to feel an aftershock not even ten minutes after. Within 1 minute I had 20 facebook friends confirm what I had openly asked. To know the where, when, why, and how long that fast is amazing to me. It was all of six seconds and a true up and down jolt.

No damage to speak of here. Only the jarring of old memories in younger, crazier times.

Still raining in North Texas.

Make it a great Sunday!

Over and out in Big D.

Mr. Will