Earthquakes & Little Lakes

I survived my first Alaskan earthquake! It hit at about 9:45 AKDT (for those of you that don't know, Alaska has it's own time zone. We're two hours behind Mountain Time and one hour behind Pacific Time. Some of the Aleutian Islands off of Alaska share a time zone with Hawaii because Alaska is so darn BIG!)

I was sitting on the couch at Mammaw and Bill's house, reading another blog on my computer, when it happened. Remy was sleeping on the matching armchair and we were having ourselves a lazy Thursday morning. There's a dirt road right in front of the house that gets a fair amount of traffic, surprisingly, so when I first heard rumbling I assumed a big truck was just making it's way down the road. The noise grew louder and louder and suddenly I felt the couch cushion wiggle a little and I realized no truck was THAT rumbly. I looked at Remy and she was staring at me with her little pointy sonar ears going crazy and I knew something was up. It died down pretty quickly, and I realized it was an earthquake at about the same time it seemed to be over. 

But it wasn't over! A more ferocious jolt occurred and the entire couch began moving - I felt like I was on a waterbed! Items in the house were clinking together, the chimes on the porch were ringing nonstop, the blinds were swinging back and forth and Bill's recliner was rocking with enough force as if someone had just leapt out of it. I jumped up from the couch, grabbed Remy, and stood underneath the doorway to the closet under the stairs. From there, I could see things hanging in the shower swinging back and forth and, through the living room window, the trees swaying in every direction. 

I knew there would be aftershocks, but I didn't know when they would occur. I knew not to expect anything worse than the main quake, though, so I felt safe enough to come back to the couch. Remy was spooked and kept close for quite a while afterward. I looked up "alaska earthquake" on Google and found out it was a 6.2! Way bigger than one I'd ever been in before. I realized I could still feel the floor rumbling under my feet. The entire thing lasted almost a minute - a lot longer than I thought it would. 

I've only felt one other earthquake before, back when I was in middle or high school. I was sitting at my desk in my room one night, probably doing nerdy things like homework, when my chair jiggled and things on my desk rattled. Since our house was fairly small, I shouted "did anyone else feel that?!" They all shouted back, "feel what?" and I informed them that I thought we'd just had an earthquake! They all thought I was making it up, which I wouldn't put past my pre-teen self at the time, but I swore that at least something had happened. No more than two minutes later, the newscaster on the channel my dad was watching downstairs said "looks like we just had a little earthquake!" Talk about vindication. But that was no 6.2!

I'm glad I know what to expect now. I guess you're not supposed to hide under doorways anymore? (Thanks, elementary school! What're you going to tell me next - that Pluto's not a planet?!) Apparently, hiding under a table or solid surface is a better way to go about temporarily impeding your death during a more aggressive earthquake. I'm hoping this was a rare occurrence, though, because yesterday's was the biggest quake in the last couple decades. I can handle the little rattlers just fine.

I was really excited to talk with Garrett about it because I knew it was his first earthquake, but he told me that he didn't feel it because he was using some dirt drill thing at work so his whole day was an earthquake. Dang it.

Last night we attended the rehearsal dinner for Garrett's cousin who is getting married today in Wasilla. I can't believe this is our first wedding of the summer! We had one to go to earlier this year in the spring, but we thought this was going to be another hectic year of "I do"'s. We got to see Garrett's aunt, uncle, and cousins as well as his boss and some coworker-friends from last summer. It's nice knowing we're not completely alone up here in The Last Frontier. 

The house that hosted the event was so beautiful - tucked away into the yellow birch limbs and next to this tiny lake spotted with loons. It was the perfect night to sit against the outdoor stone fireplace and look out at the dusky reflections on the water. It was chilly, but for some reason any other temperature would've ruined the mood.