WHERE WERE YOU

WHEN THE EARTHQUAKE HIT?

It’s the morning after the earthquake:  August 24, 2011.

The question last night and this morning was: “Where were you when the earthquake hit?”

Here in Annapolis we felt it - and so far I only heard of one person being hurt: a kid breaking his leg in a local school. People talked about knickknacks falling off shelves - and pictures shaking. The television showed pictures of chimneys that had broken apart - and red bricks that fell and hit the sidewalk - and homes and churches that were damaged - but not too badly.

Annapolis is a city of red bricks. Our church, schools, Carroll House, rectory, are red bricks. I was scared about all those red bricks crumbling and falling  - like a house of cards. I stood there in our parking lot - looking up at our tall, tall, church steeple - praying, "Stay firm! Don't fall!"

Where were you when the earthquake hit?

I was talking with someone in our living room - and at first I thought the building was about to fall. Some birds - the minute before the quake - were flying very strangely and shrieking. Then the earthquake. First it was the floor and then the whole room. We thought it was just this room. I was about to go to the picture window to look outside to see if a bulldozer  or a truck had hit the house. Then shake, rattle and roll.

We got out of there. Then as soon as we got outside into the corridor - we saw everyone moving. Was it the whole building? Then when we got outside into the parking lot we saw that the folks next door in the Carroll House as well as our schools were evacuating.

“Uh oh!” What was it? Was it an explosion?

People were on their cell phones and Droids or what have you. They seemed to be having trouble making connections. Later on we were to hear that everyone was on their gadgets - trying to find information. Someone finally said, “Washington Post: It’s an earthquake - 5.6 - Virginia.”

Later on we were to find out it was 5.8.

Then came the question over the phone, e-mail, text and twitter: "Where were you when the earthquake hit?”

Then came the pondering. Then came the wondering.

Someone asked, “Are you going to put something on your blog?”

Answer: “Didn’t plan to?”

Afterthought to myself, “Yes!”

My first thought was: In a crisis - how self-centered I was.

I thought it was only happening in the room I was in.

Then I began to think of others. Hope nobody is hurt. Hope bridges and roads are not damaged. Hope those near the epicenter are okay.

To look for a possible quote about earthquakes, I reached for my Bartlett’s Familiar Quotations - which was on my floor. A bunch of books had fallen to the floor. I jokingly thought when I had gotten back to my room yesterday: “Looks like an earthquake hit this room.” It’s usually a mess. Smile.

I found a quote with the word, "earthquake" in it. It was from Arthur Miller’s play, Death of A Salesman [1949]. Here’s the quote:

“Willy was a salesman. And for a salesman, there is no rock bottom to the life. He don’t put a bolt to a nut, he don’t tell you the law or give you medicine. He’s a man way out there in the blue, riding on a smile and a shoeshine. And when they start not smiling back - that’s an earthquake. And then you get yourself a couple of spots on your hat, and you’re finished. Nobody dast blame this man. A salesman is got to dream, boy. It comes with the territory.”

Woo - yesterday I was given the reality of what an earthquake feels like. It’s good to experience what has become a metaphor.

Now I know a tiny bit of what it’s like to lose a child - or a spouse - or one’s job. Now I know what’s it like to have the rug pulled out from under one’s feet - better:  to have one’s whole foundation shaking.

Now I know one solution. Talk to each other. Isn't that what everyone did: they had to call those they know and love and say, "I'm okay!" or to tell others where they were and what they were doing when the earth quaked. We in St. Mary's Parking Lot found ourselves standing there together  talking about not just the earthquake - but about life. And this morning several people got calls or made calls - and the one question that was constant was, “Where were you when the earthquake hit.”

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Picture on top: I was in the room in the bottom left of this picture - the one with the only large picture window. Put your cursor or arrow on the picture above and tap, tap with your left clicker and you'll get an even bigger picture.  Put that picture in the context of the picture of St. Mary's on the masthead of this blog.