1:30 a.m.: That last glass of red wine (after beer and margaritas) has me sleeping soundly next to my husband.
Until the house starts shaking.
Slow at first and then a prolonged violent shake.
I've experienced earthquakes before, small tremors usually, and one that made me dive under my table at work where I sheltered with a large Samoan boy who was having an off day.
This was different. The walls swayed. Glass rattled. The ground moved.
"Earthquake!" Nick and I jumped out of bed, fully naked and ready to respond, sort -off.
We stood in shock in the middle of our bedroom riding out the last waves.
"I'm checking on the kids," I said as the aggressive shaking changed to a gentle sway. I stood outside their doors and listened, not a sound, no call for Mom or Dad, it appeared Elias, Olive and her friend Grace slept right through the earth's volatile dance.
My mind dulled from drinks, I went back to sleep easily, despite the shock of a 7.1 earthquake in the middle of the night.
I'm not sure what we would have done if it had been the next Big One, like the '64 earthquake that demolished communities across Alaska.
We do not have an emergency evacuation bag packed. We rely on power for heat, no wood stove or fireplace. No generator. No bottles of water, just in case.
We are one natural disaster away from destitute and I know we aren't alone.
At least three families on the Kenai lost their homes in the earthquake when a gas line broke. Luckily everyone escaped without injury.
On the upside, I know Alaskans will rally around the displaced families, as we tend to support each other after catastrophes, most of us united by life in the last frontier, as different as our politics and worldviews, we all know what its like to suffer through weeks of darkness and bitter cold, so we reach out to help others emerge from the ashes.
The community that surrounds me will keep me from falling, in this I trust.
If we had mere minutes to evacuate, after the children and our dogs, what would I grab?
Elias's canes and our computer that holds all the words and images of our years together as a family. Our small safe that contains our birth certificates and passports. If there was still time, maybe my old journals and photo albums.
That's about it.
Everything else could go along with the earth's rumbles or flames.
And yet as I sit here at my kitchen table and look around my house, I'm overwhelmed by things. Dishes, papers, jackets, toys, shoes, all of it expendable if it comes down a last minute call between what stays and what goes.
Perhaps its time to purge, while also packing a bag of emergency supplies. Who knows when the next Big One will shake us to the core?
Experts say its not a matter of "if" but "when"-- and not that you can ever be ready for the earth to open up and alter everything you know, but you can at least have a jug of water to drink, as you stand amidst the rubble to begin the process of creating anew.
Oh, and one less drink on a Saturday night might be wise.
some years ago I did pack a bag that has all the essential documents and some batteries, chargers and cables and not much else. It's better than nothing and I can lay my hands on it easily. We almost lost our house to a fire back in 2002.
Posted by: s.e. | 01/26/2016 at 12:37 PM