A few minutes ago, I was in a deep sleep. Suddenly, I was awakened by my bed moving and shaking. I heard the windows in my bedroom creak. I was sure that a tornado must have touched down near my home. I threw the covers off and, in true Marine Corps fashion, belted out the command: "Get up and get downstairs!" I hurriedly moved out of my bedroom and towards the hallway.My youngest daughter was already startled, which was good. I told her to quickly move downstairs into the pantry in our basement. I entered my oldest daughter's room and she was sound asleep. I immediately grabbed her and put her on her feet and gave her the same instructions.
I followed her out of her bedroom and noticed my youngest daughter grabbing our dog and heading downstairs. Both of my children were on their way down into the basement. I lingered in the kitchen only long enough to grab both our house phone and my cell phone. I quickly proceeded down the stairs.
I walked into the main basement area to grab some blankets and pillows, but could not immediatlely find any. I stopped and listened for a moment. Silence. This prompted me to go back upstairs and look out the kitchen window. No rain. I walked towards the back of the house and peered out the window to view the trees. No wind.
The thought that someone might have been trying to open my bedroom window flashed across my mind, but that didn't explain the bed shaking.
I whirled around and turned on the television only to find a visibly shaken weather reporter begin to talk about the earthquake that just happened. Shocked myself, I yelled for the girls to come back upstairs. I explained the events that just took place to them and told them to go back to bed. My youngest daughter grabbed her pillow and crawled in bed with me and we fell asleep.
On my way to work this morning, I realized that I had forgotten my cell phone. You guessed it, I left it in the basement. I guess earthquakes that measure 5.2 on the Richter will do that to you!
