Hey Homer... is that the Ground Moving?

It was a pleasant day here in the deep south. It was early afternoon and a gentle breeze blew softly through the house... The french doors were open, the porch swing in view, and the quietness of peace was permeating the atmosphere.

As I inwardly gave thanks to the Lord for all that I could see and for all that I had, I suddenly noticed... it.

Out of the corner of my eye, I say the artificial tree that stands next to my green day sofa. It was so clear that I froze and just stared. The leaves, the leaves on the artificial tree; they were moving.

As I watched the motion and as my brain tried to process what my eyes were seeing, there was new stimuli flooding my mind, vying for first place in the processing line-up. Not only were the leaves moving, but the whole artificial tree was moving! It was swaying from side to side as if to the sound of some song only it could hear. Back and forth, forth and back.

As I allowed my mind to wrap around this new information, more stimuli came to the forefront. I suddenly realized that I was moving too! The green sofa I was sitting on, and everything that was sitting on it, was moving; all with that same rhythmic motion.

My thoughts were really s..l..o..w that day. I thought, "We are moving? Why are we moving?" I continued to watch the tree and its leaves, needing confirmation...."Yep, we really are moving? I wonder why?"

As the fact that we were moving became a final reality, my thoughts went to, "Could there be something under the couch that is making us move?" "Maybe an animal got in the house and is under the couch moving us!" "Could that be it?"

I then logically thought as follows, "How could a big enough animal get under the couch without me knowing it?" It would have to be a really big animal to move both the couch and the tree, and me?"

"Hmmm, should I look under the couch?" "Nope!!!, If something is there, I am gonna need reinforcements!" "Maybe I should put my feet on the sofa just in case it,(whatever it is) wants to make a run for it."

I am a native Southern Californian (even though I have not lived there in over 20 years). I have experienced every earthquake that has occurred in the L. A. area since 1971.

Big ones, small ones and baby sized ones. The ones that made you dive under the piano and the ones that made you yawn... I am a veteran earthquake experiencer.

So, when we came to Georgia, I was earthquake conscious. So much so, that I had to remind myself whenever a strong wind caused the buildings here to sway, that I was no longer in California. And, that swaying was more likely to be caused by a tornado as opposed to an earthquake.

This was the great state of Georgia. A state that is literally built on granite... I mock thee San Andreas fault....Ha.. Ha.. I am over 2500 miles from Los Angeles and your domination.

Surely there are no earthquakes here... tornadoes maybe, remnants of hurricanes from Florida maybe, deadly lightening storms and plenty of strange bugs, but no earthquakes.

Or so I thought.

The knowledge that earthquakes occur in other places outside of California came at 4:50am on April 29, 2003. I was still in bed when suddenly I felt the familiar rolling motion that is unique to every earthquake.

Again, my lightening sharp mind began to process the movement. "That's an earthquake!" "But, wait a minute...this is Georgia!" (intelligent pause) "But, it is still an earthquake." "Yeah...it sure is.?"

Next, the assessment, "How strong is it? Not very, so, I'm going back to sleep."

That experience was eye opening only because it taught me that earthquakes do occur in the south. However, earthquake vet that I am, there was not one moment during or after this most recent couch shaking experience that I equated with an earthquake.

The lack of regularly occurring earthquakes has dulled my earthquake sensor.

Don't get me wrong, I am not an earthquake lover... and, I am sure that a dulled earthquake sensor has reduced some unnecessary stress in my life. So, I don't mind that I've grown dull. Sort of like, out of sight, out of mind.

I suppose I would have recognized the earthquake if it had lasted longer or if it was accompanied by their characteristic audible rumble. But, I was completely clue-less; that is until a fellow ex-Californian called.

She asked if I'd felt the earthquake. It was then that the light came on and the synapses in my brain began to fire... "Oh!!! That's... Ohhh. That's why.... Ooohhhhh, I wondered what was........ Humph, an earthquake huh?, Well Praise God!"

I was almost ashamed of my ignorance. Earthquake vet that I am... I should have known it was an earthquake the very second the movement started.

As these thoughts were trying to take root in my thought-life, my friend continued to talk. My attention was brought back to her conversation.... I hear her saying, "I just wanted to know if you felt it so I could be sure that I wasn't crazy!

Oh happy day! I didn't need to concern myself about my earthquake detection dullness for I had a friend who was dulling up too! I was not alone!

The knowledge that my friend and I were both on the same wave length made me feel better.

So, with the shaking over, the tree standing still and the couch becoming even more comfortable, I went back to doing the only logical thing to do... sit on back and snooze.

I am so glad that southern earthquakes are so far and in between that folk like me and my friend almost forget what they feel like.