in which the earth moves. seriously.

Peaceful, idyllic scene of the Museville mammals at rest.

You’d never know that a 5.0 magnitude earthquake was about to shake the city of Ottawa, as well as much of southeastern Ontario, parts of western Quebec, and the northeastern United States.

Yep, an earthquake. I can count the number of times that I’ve actually felt a quake in this part of the world on one hand. Tangible tremors are rare ’round here.

The quake hit as I was drifting off to sleep for a short power nap. The earth rumbled, the house shook, and I immediately shot out of bed startled and disoriented. My heart was beating a mile a minute and I honestly thought I was having a nightmare (daymare…?). Or hallucinating. (But on what? My lunchtime salad?) Until the dog came dashing into the room. Then I was wide awake. Something was definitely amiss. Time decelerated into that weird slow-mo warp zone that accompanies fear and confusion.

A million strange thoughts whipped through my mind as I mobilized to get myself, and as many pets as I could grab along the way, out the door:

• “Holy crap, why is a transport truck wrestling with the foundation of the house?”
• “A plane/space shuttle/alien ship is about to make an emergency landing in the dog park – or on the roof! Oh God, why did we get a home so close to the f$#%* airport?!”
• “Does life insurance cover apocalypses? Curses, I knew I should have read the fine print.”
• “Hey, it’s been a great life so far. I intend to survive. And I’m also ready to go if it’s time.”

Embarrassing. Selfish. Human. Funny in hindsight. The mild quake lasted maybe all of thirty seconds (tho’ it felt waaaay longer), leaving the house intact and its inhabitants unscathed.

Sobering to know that this was only a tiny tremor in the grand scheme of things. It could have been much, much worse. Like the devastating quakes that tore through Haiti and many other parts of the world already this year.

I’m counting lucky stars and viewing this “baby quake” as a sign to put a survival kit together and make additional donations to ongoing earthquake disaster relief.

Compelling reminder.