Seismic Activity

Last night I dreamt I was walking down the halls of my high school – so far so good.  This is a common one and usually involves some forgotten algebra class, an unreadable class schedule, difficulty finding home room, that sort of anxiety.  This time though, I was walking down the hall when an earthquake started.  Having gone through a couple I can tell you it’s odd feeling knowing there’s nowhere stable.  In the dream it was a major quake, a heavy fast vibration that increased in intensity until I was thrown to the floor with all the students and we had to ride it out.  If you’ve been in an earthquake you know they don’t usually last long, but this one just went on and got worse until my teeth began to shake loose, the ground buzzing like truck-sized wasps from the earth’s core were trying to escape.  In a word, horrifying.

After the last real earthquake, which sent me to my feet from a deep sleep into a flat-out run to Toddler Harbat’s room, I’ve been expecting the Big One.  The San Andreas fault veers away from the coast after coming through Los Angeles, so when the big one hits L.A. will fall into a crack in the Earth, Gandalf-style, while we are just set adrift like an iceberg.  Keep in mind this is the Uncle F$#k-Up geotechnical method that has absolutely no bearing in real science!  The first earthquake I went through here I dismissed as truck vibration.  The second big one was a novelty.  The third got my blood pumping.  Ever since I’ve been feeling with the soles of my feet for that first flutter than indicates It Is Happening.

I do have an idea what caused the earthquake dream.  Take a look at last night’s dinner:

Hey, I got home late and my wife said she’d made breakfast for dinner for her and TH.  Once I got the thought of bacon and eggs in my mind, there was no stopping.  And yes, that is a beer, but give me some credit, I ate a whole carrot!  Tonight, no beer and no earthquake dreams.  Probably.

About Peter Soutowood

Writer, architect, father, husband.