we had an earthquake and it was fucked up

I was on Zoom for the single most mind numbing meeting on my calendar when I felt a slight rumble, not even as strong as it feels when a tractor trailer goes by. Then the room swayed. SWAYED. Like the building was leaning from its foundation. For about 10 seconds. I were SHOOKETH.

Rapt by what I was seeing, I heard in the background that others on Zoom were experiencing the same thing and the meeting quickly wrapped. I sat there for the next several minutes thinking each pounding of my heart was an aftershock. Milo was unphased. I called my Mom to let her know I was OK. I had to leave a voicemail because she was flying home from setting up my uncle’s assisted living situation.

And then I went to physical therapy at 1:15 like nothing happened. There were a few “where were you when…” conversations in the gym but everybody was back to business as usual.

In the early evening the aftershock actually did happen. I noticed it because my laptop desk propped on the sofa was trembling. Milo’s ears perked up for that one.

It wasn’t until I talked to my Dad a couple of days later that I realized he hadn’t even called to see if I was OK. That’s fucked up too but not nearly as unusual as an earthquake.