Saturday, October 2, 2010

Shake It Baby Shake!

Around 4 o'clock this afternoon, I heard a low frequency rumbling sound, accompanied by a rattling of something metallic. Most likely the AC unit mounted in my metal window frame in the great room. It was brief, lasting much less than a minute.

I live about an eighth of a mile off I-64, and sometimes large 18 wheeler trucks will buffet the air as they speed on by, and the ensuing shock wave will vibrate my roof, creating a sort of mild bass drum effect. At first, I thought that was what I heard this afternoon, but then while watching the evening news, I heard that there was an earthquake centered in a nearby county today. I went on line to search for earthquake information, and found that it occurred at exactly the time I noticed the low frequency rumble and rattling. It was a mild quake, only a 3 on the Richter scale, but even though it was about 40 miles away, it was still noticeable. East coast earthquakes are not uncommon, but they are usually so mild, that they go unnoticed by most people. This is the first one that I have noticed. When I was still working, one occurred while I was driving home, but because I was in a moving vehicle, I never knew it happened, until I heard about it later on the news.

I'm sure that my west coast readers are laughing right now. They know what a real temblor is like. A 3 on the Richter scale is nothing compared to what they experience on a regular basis, but as is the case with all things in life, everything is relative.

Relevance......... something that sadly, is completely lost on some. I won't go into detail, for concern of generating the usual fear and loathing, but I think that some of you may know what I'm talking about.

Another cool night! It's 44°F outside right now. I've had a sweater on all day today. I love it! This is the first day since early last spring, that I have been able to shut all of the A/C units off. The house is strangely quiet! I'm sure I will have to turn a fan on tonight, just to be able to get some soothing white noise to lull me to sleep.



Melissa XX

5 comments:

Unknown said...

I remember chatting to someone I worked with in San Francisco. I was in New York. He said "there's an earthquake, I'm outta here!" And I responded: "No there isn't!"

Well, there wasn't where I was... :-)

Anonymous said...

Ok, that does it! Now I demand a blog from you on relevance. :)Suze

Anji said...

We have small quakes here and they are just as you described. Fortunately usually nothing broken.

I love snuggling into sweaters again.

The Crossdresser's Girlfriend said...

I have experienced an earth quake in California, but have experienced much louder comotions in the South. Love you!

Calie said...

You know, Melissa, I haven't experience an earthquake since I moved here!

I'm glad your little temblor didn't cause any damage.

Calie xxx