Earthquake!

"What was that?!"

At approximately O-dark-thirty (hey, that's Army lingo for about 5:30 a.m.) the windows rattled and Ward and I wondered why the alarm had gone off early and we hadn't noticed but were awake anyway.

"Just the wind . . . I think."

Nope! Thirty minutes later I can't sleep and go to check on the Beave, who wants to get up at 6:30 . . . he's not in the guest bedroom where he started ( and why should he be in the guest bed and not his own? it's a long story, involving perceived bedbugs) so I check his room, and there he is. He stirs, and I ask him why he moved. He says the bed was rattling, and he thought he was having a nightmare involving Betty's American dolls which are on a book shelf in the guest room . . . sheesh!

In the meantime, Ward has already gotten information on his Blackberry that we had just experienced an earthquake. It had only lasted a few seconds, maybe ten. So instead of turning on Fox News, which is my normal routine, I turn to the local news, out of Louisville. We had indeed been part of an earthquake. The epicenter was West Salem, Illinois, southeastern Illinois. It had registered 5.4 and had taken about 36 seconds to make its presence known in our part of the world, which the local news call Kentuckiana, meaning a combination of southern Indiana and northern Kentucky. (The Beave thinks Indiucky would be a better mix, but then he's not so fond of this area.)

We've been in small earthquakes before. Just ask Betty about the one in DuPont, Washington. But for the most part, it's just a little shaking that happens. And the dogs didn't move a muscle, not so much as an eyelid lifted. But we can say that we've lived through an earthquake!