I felt the earth MOVE…
Well, I think it’s fair to say that today has just been exceptionally WEIRD.
First of all, we were woken just before 2am to our beds rattling (and it felt to me) almost lifting from the floors in our old timber house.
The sounds accompanying this rattling was weird – like a road train driving straight at us, growing louder and louder… rattling more and more.
And then… BLACKOUT.
Violet of course, woke and freaked out. She sounded like a siren approaching the room from the opposite direction.
Apparently stuff was falling off her walls.
My foggy brain was trying hard to tell me EARTHQUAKE.
But here? In the Aussie bush? Seemed just surreal.
And then…. more shaking and quaking.
And again.
Of course we let our frightened ten-year-old girl into the bed. The mournful Great Dane, nudging beseechingly at the door, wasn’t so lucky.
Everyone gradually went back to sleep…
Except me. Of course.
Adrenaline and heart pumping, I gave in and got up.
And researched what had happened… 
A 5.2 M earthquake less than 30km from here. Then a 3.2 then a 3.4.
None of this knowledge helped each time I returned to try and catch some z’s.
So you know what I did?
This.
Evidence that our high tank – which I was sure would be shaken from it’s perch – was perfectly in place.
And the most peaceful of sunrises…
And then the day pretended to be normal. So I vaccuumed (a much overdue activity) and blew up my vaccuum cleaner. As you do. (There may have been arguments that it was in shock after such unexpected activity. I have lifted my chin and ignored that.)
And then after lunch I lay down. You know to catch up on slumber after just 3.5 hours the previous night. And then…
I thought I heard the washing machine on spin cycle. Then I remember I HADN’T PUT THE WASHING MACHINE ON. And my skin crawled as I sat up, and realisation hit me and the windows shook and the Great Dane tried to climb into my lap…
THE EARTH HAD MOVED AGAIN. (A 2.5 this time).
So basically I rang my neighbour and we freaked together over the phone and then drank wine together to settle our ragged nerves. Because every single noise has me looking out for the next quake. Alcohol seemed the only answer.
It was the best emergency action we could think of to take.
It worked somewhat.
And then, after she left… in broad daylight…
A heavy burst of rain.
REALLY HEAVY…
Like if you walked in it, it hurt. And then, after 30 seconds…
IT STOPPED.
And a rainbow appeared.
And then within seconds…
VANISHED.
With the sun evaporating the droplets almost instantly.
It’s like everything is on speed here.
Weatherwise.
I am quite delirious. (Yes, more even than normal).
Am hoping for everything to just CALM THE HECK DOWN now…
Mother Nature needs to just get OFF THE DRUGS and let me sleep.
Have a word with her for me, will you?
🙂
Can you handle the cute?
13 Comments
Coral
Da humorous account of quite a scary occurrence!
Colin Huggins
Nah, Mother Nature and that kid of her’s, Hughie, have bloody minds of their own.
I am sick of this sun/rain/sun/rain here – the sun has even got sick of retiring when it rains for 10 minutes!!! Aaaaaaaaaaah!
At least the rain is warm. I wonder where the normal February went to in 2015??
At least earth shaking or not, the countryside is looking great.
Cheers
Colin
BB of Oz
I do hope you are not complaining about rain there Colin? Heh. More rain coming our way later this week by the looks… lots of travelling planned then. Could be interesting!
Colin Huggins
Actually for BNE – YES!
There is no beef cattle etc. here that need
feeding and the gardens and lawns are almost like jungles.
We need a drying out period – 2 weeks at least and then the lawn mowers may have caught up!!!! ??????
Hope young Dash has settled in to boarding school life? Is he down here at a BNE college?
I know rain is good for you as long as you don’t end up with floods. That will keep you from any travelling – ha ha!
Cheers
Colin
Merry-Anne
Sleep well tonight; I had 4 nights of Rats in the ceiling, a sciatic back problem that sent me downhill fast, swollen feet and everything you can imagine ; so last night some pills were taken at midnight and I never heard a thing.( I missed it all) Tonight the gods will behave I’m sure.
You captured a beautiful sunrise, see what you would have missed.
Kelly
Wow! You’ve certainly had an interesting day. My EQ curiosity will have me researching Aussie quakes now. 🙂
Kelly´s last blog post ..Always beautiful
Boogal Brahmans
Sure was a weird day and the rain and emergence of the sun equally strange and beautiful………. pleasant memories over a glass of Pinot Gris however !( Hope you slept well !) Bron xx
Boogal Brahmans´s last blog post ..January Jottings
BB of Oz
Was very grateful for the company, distraction and conversation!!! 🙂
Lynda M Otvos
Wow, you have had more activity in the last few days than I have heard of in months !~! Hope it settles down for you.
Lynda M Otvos´s last blog post ..He’s Growing Bigger and Stronger and Funnier
Anne@Grit and Giggles
Wow! An earthquake, well a few. I would have found it hard to settle down too. The upside is that you had a beautiful morning there. The rain shower, I mean dumping, also sounds weird but again a beautiful thing followed.
We keep being told there might be a cyclone, there might be a cyclone. Still waiting although the Gulf seems to have stolen it from us this time. Maybe it’ll go the right way and head down the middle making sure plenty of rain goes with it. We’ve had a shower or two here today but there seems to be this strange blue stuff up high. It has been raining a lot here, not that I am complaining but sometimes it is nice to see a bit of blue too.
Anne@Grit and Giggles´s last blog post ..Stepping back in time
Alexa
What a combination of natures events where one feels helpless as we have NO control whatsoever.
I’m sure after your frights you were glad though to get some beautiful ‘ a new day is here’ photos.
Alexa visiting from Sydney where we also have a bumper green lawns year 🙂
Alexa
Ps…
Alexa´s last blog post ..#when
debby
Oh my goodness. I’d like to say something intelligent, but all I can think of is ‘oh my goodness’. Mother Nature needs MORE medication, if you ask me. She needs to take something for her bi-polar mood swings.
debby´s last blog post ..Update on Tim