Illinois. Is. The. Answer.
- I didn’t actually feel this one.
I can just hear my West Coast relatives and friends screaming, “REALLY??? You think you had an earthquake? What was it, a measly 3.8?”
The answer is, “Yes, and it woke me up!”
Even my husband questions my claims that I have felt earthquakes here in our snug little suburban split level in northwest Chicagoland.
I must be like the Princess and the Pea when it comes to earthquakes, because I’m able to sleep through just about anything else — thunderstorms, sirens, barking dogs, no problem.
We have had two significant quakes in northern Illinois in the seven years that we have lived in this house. For the five seconds that the quake is recognizable, I am awakened from sleep not because the bed is shaking, but because my house is screaming. Literally — the torsion caused by the earthquake twists the structural innards of my house and it screams in pain. It’s kind of an indescribable sound, like a moan crossed with a whistle. And my husband sleeps right through it.
The good news (if you can call it good) is that there is proof of my Princessian sensitivity — and yes, I made up that word. My house has two major cracks in the drywall that appeared after these quakes. Some of my students also feel the quakes — is that proof of their sensitivity as well? I’m vindicated because CNN and the Illinois State Geological Survey support my claims.
Whew. I’m not crazy. Just sensitive. I feel a lot better now that I’ve gotten this off my chest, or at least I’m calm until the next time the earth moves under my feet.
This post is linked up Mama Kat’s Writing Workshop. Check out her site to see the work many creative writers, including my niece Jessie at Vanderbilt Wife, .
