Video: “interview” with Sam about the earthquake (and new blocks)

Mom summed up the news well below – thanks for passing the word, mom! I could only get a call out during a brief window when my phone wasn’t on analog looking for service and hogging up the scant battery. I was sitting on our deck while my phone told me I was “entering service area” and “leaving service area” repeatedly. I have to say that there is something unspeakably unsettling about the ground heaving beneath your feet, your house groaning and swaying, and the strange noises that comes with an earthquake. While it’s something we laugh about afterwards, my first thought was “tsunami” and was rather alarmed to see my neighbor packing up his truck. I asked him if he was headed for the hills and he said no – but assured me he’d let me know if it was time to run for it! I have seen tall speakers mounted in the marsh behind us, but one always wonders if these systems really work – especially since I haven’t heard them tested in the almost 8 weeks we’ve lived here.

Sam was in good spirits once the house stopped shaking. He was pretty scared at first – I think he got rocked into the side of his crib and woke up with a start. Poor kid. We’ve since been talking about how the house had “shakey-shakies” since he recognizes that’s fun – he likes to shake ice in his cup, and anything that rattles. So now he retells the story of the house having “shakies” with lots of arm gestures back and forth. He is happy to see his fan turning again, and is taking an unprecedented nap today – going on almost 3 hrs now!!!
This was a good drill to point out the gaps in our disaster prep – moving discombobulated our supplies and plans a bit. We had no fuel for our camping equipment (stove, lantern), but enough to keep the grill going. We had no high-elevation escape route picked out, nor a rally point if Dave went into work (which he did) and I had to evacuate. I looked out our bedroom window at the hills about a mile away and pointed to a rock the high-schoolers paint each year. I told Dave that’s where I’d be in the event of a tsunami warning. I figure it’d be better to hike Sam and Caff out of harm’s way than to spend precious time sitting in what is sure to be heavy traffic up the only 2 arteries into the hills. I will also have a front-mount child carrier on my mountain bike by the end of the week (a purchase not related to my escape plans!) so I can bike past all those cars with Sam on my back. If I go with the bike plan, Caff would be on her own. Poor girl. So hiking sounds better to me if I can swing it. I now have 5 days of food stashed away in the garage, 2 gallons of water (we have a water purifier as well in our hiking gear) and enough batteries to power all of our flashlights and radio for 10 days. I plan to stockpile 5 more days of food. I bought condensed milk and evaporated milk as well, thinking that’s what any wise mom would do. I have no idea, however, what one does with it. If anyone knows if I dilute it, drink it straight, or something else please comment! We stashed some freeze-dried backpacking food in addition to several varieties of beans 🙂

As I walked around the neighborhood yesterday with Sam, I heard lots of generators. I don’t think that’s necessary. I think we would rather “camp out” at home and go off the grid. However, I’ve made a mental note in case we want to befriend these neighbors before the next incident 🙂 ha ha!

Thanks to my dad’s advice – always have 1/2 a tank of gas – we both did 🙂 I tried to buy propane today – no luck. Go figure!

Thanks to all of you for your prayers and concerns. I’m glad you were able to check into the website and get an update. Any volunteers to be my alternate “public affairs officer” when mom moves here for a few months? 🙂