that sinking feeling

never did i think that it could happen while i was in florida....

i was always assured by the fact that there were not supposed to be earthquakes in florida especially given my sorted past with them...

i spent a few of my formative years growing up outside los angeles, where earthquakes were quite common and the drills at school were even more frequent. hiding under desks and in doorways seemed like a game, but i think there came a time where the drills and actual earthquake experiences began to terrify me.

i recall waking in the middle of the night and thinking it safer to sleep in my doorway, in case the earthquake happened at night. i also remember starring at the walls as i started to dose off to sleep to make sure that nothing moved.

i also remember thinking that infamous child's folk lore that california was going to break off the US and become its own island or worse yet....sink into the sea

i have to say that my only fond memory of the earthquake childhood nightmares is the night where i made a mad dash to hide under the dining room table...as i swore that i felt an earthquake at 12:30 in the morning.....but to my surprise, there was no earthquake, instead I found a missing mother and father and a family friend sitting at the dining room table waiting for the phone call from the hospital and the announcement of my baby sisters arrival ( a force to rival any natural disaster)

so on this eve of the second earthquake this century in florida, i remember back and to that sinking feeling and that moment when the earths little quakes were no longer as important as know whether my mom and new sister were safe and sound.