Wednesday, July 30, 2008

Earthquake II: The Sequel



After I finished running in circles and trying to make calls on phones without dial tones, I thought to check on my next door neighbor's elderly dog. Using my key, I let myself into his house, calling for the dog. It had not occurred to me that my neighbor might have not gone to work that day but he hadn't, and was sitting in his living room reading a book. I apologized for not knocking first, but I thought he'd understand the urgency. He was politely amused by my distress and told me that in Japan, where he is from, moderate earthquakes happen every couple of weeks, and were nothing to get excited about. He made it clear that he thought Californians were earthquake wimps. Even his dog was composed, and I'm sure that dog has never been to Japan.

In retrospect, if I had been thinking, I would have known that this was a far more moderate quake than either Northridge or Loma Prieta. In both of those, I couldn't have run in circles without falling down.

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