Tuesday, September 12, 2006

Shake N' Bake


Ok, this is getting ridiculous.

As a Florida native (yes, we do exist) I'm used to searing heat, humidity you can swim through, mosquitoes the size of dragonflies, alligators in the retention ponds, hurricane season, love bugs, tropical monsoons and frequent lightning storms.

But earthquakes? This is just too much!

A 6.0 earthquake in the Gulf of Mexico rattled windows in Florida, Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana last Sunday. Looking at this map, that sucker was WAAAY too close for comfort. Luckily, I didn't feel it - if I had I'd probably still be in bed with the covers over my head. Unbeknownst to me, there was a 5.2 temblor in the same location on Feb. 10th, and there are still possible aftershocks expected.

Um, can you say 'tsunami'? Though we've been assured there's no current danger of that, due to the type of quake this was (thrusting vs. shifting), we in Florida are not amused.

No offense, Mother Nature, but you can be a real bitch.

However, this whole 'earthquake in the Gulf' thing got me thinking about how we go along fat, dumb and happy most of the time - until something happens to 'shake us up'. Anything happen to you lately that made you rethink something you thought was true or constant in your own life?

3 comments:

Janice Lynn said...

Terri, in my job as a Nurse Practitioner I'm constantly given the shake-up. Sometimes more drastically than others.

Today I had a breast cancer patient come in who I diagnosed earlier this year. her husband died of a heart attack less than 2 years ago leaving her to raise two kids by herself. She has an 81 yr old dad & an uncle who have been her only support through her cancer & chemo. Today she told me the uncle was diagnosed with liver cancer 2 weeks ago & wasn't expected to make it. When I called her this evening to discuss results with her, she was crying. The uncle had died between her seeing me this morning & the time I called. Now, her only support in life is her 81 yr old dad who mowed her yard all summer because she couldn't be outside because of her chemo. Sometimes life seems so unfair. Okay, I wrote a freaking book on your blog. Sorry about that.

Terri Garey said...

Oh, Janice - that is so sad. We think we have problems until we hear about people with problems like this poor lady. Real tragedy gives us a whole new perspective on things, doesn't it?

Anonymous said...

Thankfully, I've had no shake ups recently. I'm pretty ok with going along fat, dumb and happy. Of course, my 17 yo likes to throw me a curve ball every now and then - but I've gotten almost to a point where nothing surprises me. I guess that makes being the mother of a teenager easier?