A Whole Lot of Shaking

Tuesday morning I got a late start and was in the process of getting dressed when the small bathroom I was standing in began to move. I didn’t have to think about it. I knew it was an earthquake right away. Usually the small ones that happen here are over almost before you notice them. It feels like somebody pulled on the back legs of your chair (if you’re sitting) and then ran away.

This was different. It was more like I was in a box being shaken by some giant hand. It shook and then shook some more, but harder. I stepped into the door frame (that’s what you’re supposed to do because the door frame is stronger than other parts of the room) and watched one of my cats run across the living room with her tail poofed out.

And then it finally stopped. Relieved that for once I didn’t get that horrible free falling, scary feeling in the pit of my stomach, I went outside. We all work out of the house, so within moments my son and husband and joined me in the yard and we compared notes. Our other cat slept through the whole thing and Goldy, our terrier mix never stirred from her chair.

We had no damage other than unsettled nerves. And thankfully it wasn’t anything like the Northridge earthquake in 1994. We were practically on top of the epicenter of that one and while we only had an some cracks in our walls and an overturned bookcase, the power was off for days and there was lots of damage near us.

I will never forget driving my son to school and driving past an endless row of fallen block walls. Or the Cal State Northridge parking structure that looked like Godzilla had stepped on it. Or the apartment building that was now sagging at an angle.

This past Tuesday there were aftershocks, but since the epicenter was so far away, we didn’t feel them. Not so with the Northridge quake. The whole week after it seemed like the shaking didn’t stop. We had numerous ones that were over 5 points. And then something happened. I began to feel a surge of gratitude for every moment the house wasn’t shaking.

As the weeks progressed and the shaking grew less and less, my moments of gratitude became more and more until finally, I felt a constant state of gratitude all of the time for everything.

I still feel that way. The Tuesday shaker just reminded me.

Has anything negative had a positive impact on your life?

Malice, Earthquakes, Passover, Real Characters, and Sitting Alone at My Table

I have a lot on my mind today. Look out!

1. Malice Album for their auction-- I complete this darling album to be auctioned off at Malice. The money goes to a worthy cause. Camille suggested I do this--and it was a very smart idea, I think. After all, I want folks who read mysteries to know that I really do scrapbook. I feel like the fact I've been at this craft a long time enriches my work. You'll notice this isn't a traditional album. This is made so you can set it on a bookshelf and display your photos. If you get my ezine, you'll read how to make this. (The next ezine should go out in a couple of weeks.) I made this from two cereal boxes.

2. "I Feel the Earth Move"--Yes, I felt that earthquake. Thanks to a lot of you, and to radio, I'm now much smarter about what happened. Key tips: Keep shoes by your bed because of broken glass, go high (not into the basement, duh!), grab a pillow to hold over your head, and expect after-shocks. Turns out that the Midwest is the place in the world where you'd feel the most shaking because we're on a bed of rock.

3. We Worship the Holy Dog Bone--Okay, Passover started last night, and I have a funny family story to tell: I was raised Episcopalian but I have a Jewish home. When we moved to the UK for a year, a lot of our belongings got jumbled up. I remembered to pack the Seder plate ("seder" means "order," and the Last Supper that Jesus celebrated was a seder), the Haggadah (the service book) and the matzo cover (a special linen for holding 3 pieces of unleven bread, and a lamb shank bone representing the Pascal lamb. When we got home, I finally unpacked all our boxes. Took me years. At the bottom of a box, I found a bone. I showed it to my husband. Turns out that somehow we'd mixed up the lamb bone and our dog's chew bone. (Hey, I'm the NON-Jew here! I plead ignorance.) So we'd had the chew bone on our Passover plate. This is proof that God is kind, just and has a sense of the absurd. Otherwise, had He not had a sense of humor He would surely have visited His wrath on us.

4. Uh, They're Real to Me--I was talking with a friend after Jazzercise about my upcoming mystery series. I told her about Kiki Lowenstein, my protagonist, and her friends. I explained about the problems each person in the book has--in that way, Jon Jordan of CrimeSpree Magazine has pointed out that my book isn't a traditional mystery. I like realism. My friend shook her head and said, "The way you talk about these people. It's like they are living, breathing people...not characters in a book." They are real to me! Honest! If they weren't, I couldn't care about them. And if I don't care about them, why should my readers?

5. The Hostess with the Mostess (Maybe)--I volunteered to be a Table Hostess at Malice. In my usual "over-the-top" way, I've been preparing "table favors." In my case that means: bookmarks (with flowers I add by hand), tiny folding albums, butter cookies (a St. Louis favorite), and excerpt booklets. I'm also trying to put my excerpt booklets online so anyone can download them. We'll see! If you know a friend who's coming to Malice, please ask them to look me up. I have this awful fear I'll be sitting at my table ALL alone!