Just a quick update to let everyone know we had several earthquakes here yesterday, the strongest coming in at 5.6 on the Richter. All is well, no injuries anywhere, no major damage in our area, though some closer to the epicenter experienced tumbling chimneys, destroyed bric-a-brac and the like.
I was in bed reading when it happened, and I've never experienced anything like it. One can see why Poseidon Earthshaker was a potent deity. There's something overwhelmingly personal about these types of events that speak to us on an entirely different level, and profoundly effect the imagination. Maybe it's the sense of powerlessness shattering our complacency, maybe it's simple awe, but I think part at least is the sense that the natural world is not ever completely knowable. Whatever else it is, it's definitely a catalyst. I'll close with a quote:
It is not light that we need, but fire; it is not the gentle shower, but thunder. We need the storm, the whirlwind, and the earthquake.
~Frederick Douglass
Image: Courtesy US Geological Survey
~Frederick Douglass
Image: Courtesy US Geological Survey
