"Today we had a 6.1 earthquake. I was in the kitchen putting away dishes at 7:42 and everything started shaking-at first I thought it was a train but then it dawned on me it was an earthquake-I figured that out because the house was shaking and not vibrating and it was rumbling, not tooting. It lasted about 15-20 seconds. 7 people were killed-one a wall fell on her, one a man was buried under 30 feet of dirt so- There was another guy but I forgot what happened to him. Then 4 other people died of heart attacks. If you are wondering, I am in 7th grade and go to Goddard Middle School. Anyway, about the earthquake-it was freaky. People were saying we were going to have another one at 1:00 pm-they were full of crap. Poeple say we're going to have another earthquake in 1-5 days. I personally think they are wrong. If they could predict earthquakes they would of predicted this one and they sure didn't predict it."
It's funny to read it now in a sort of analytical way. Looking not at the writing style, or lack thereof, but content. It was so factual. I didn't say at all how the earthquake affected me emotionally. It was a really scary time. It was the first big earthquake I had experienced and although it didn't claim a huge number of lives, it caused tons of damage. I remember sitting at school that day wondering what would happen if there was another one and the school fell down. Classes that day were empty. More than half the students stayed home, and there was a steady stream of students leaving throughout the day. After shocks continued for a few days, and each one was terrifying....more scary than the big one because we didn't know if it was going to be "the big one". Yet I didn't say anything about that. I wasn't surprised to see that I didn't forget the gory death details. Geez!
Hope this wasn't too anticlimatic!
Anyone notice that in both journal entries I mentioned work that I had to do? Ours was a family that worked. I was bitter about it growing up because no one I knew had as many chores as I did, but I'm thankful for that training now. Not grateful enough to say thanks for working me like a horse though. ha ha.
7 comments:
I love how you were comparing the earthquake to a train going by! And all that "training" in the way of chores definitely prepared you for raising a family of 5 kids huh? Will you be passing down the "working" experience to your kiddos?
Casey,
I make my kids help around the house some, but I won't have them do as much as I had to. My girls have to make their own beds in the morning, help me set the table for dinner and put away the silverware. All three put their own clothes away, too. When they are older I'm going to make them do more, but for now, I think they do enough, and I don't ever want them to feel like they never have fun, that all they do is work. There's a fine line to be drawn, isn't there? I also don't want the sort of lazy kids that are everywhere now.........
So weird to read that. So weird. I didnt go to school that day. When the quake hit I was standing infront of our wall heater and thought it was a big truck rolling by. We lived on a busy street (probably close to you at the time, White Oak in Northridge) and sometimes when the trucks would go by they would rattle the house a bit. I was terrified. We all got under our dining room table. I remember not wanting to get out from under it.
Ugh. Just thinking about it gets me all jumpy. We havent had a significant one since the Northridge quake and I do not want to have one like that again. What would I do with the kids?! The thought just panics me.
I grew up in constant fear of earth quakes, seriously unreasonable fears! The worst one I was in was in October of 1989. Never forgot that. I also was in fear of the night stalker. I constantly worry I am not teaching my kids to work enough. I have had way too many room mates or other adult friends who were not taught to work and self discipline, and it did not work in their favor! I think its great you worked, although I agree there is a line!
Back then when we (I) was in junior high saying freaky would have been the same as scared to death. Cause it wasn't cool to be scared at least in our little town. I actually have never been in an earthquare I grew up in Central Oregon so it wasn't a concern although I always wondered if one of the volcano's were ever going to erupt!
I totally agree with the fine line between chores and too much work. It will be interesting to see how the chores evolve around our house, especially since my hubby and I aren't great about setting the best example in putting our own clothes away! Folding laundry regularly is one of those things I had to let go of right now with the chaos created by my trio! We pluck stuff out of the laundry baskets 50% of the time:) I hope to get a little more of my orgnanization back once the girls are older.
On the earthquake topic, my brother was at the World Series Game in S.F. when the earthquake in 1989 happened. Talk about mad chaos trying to get out of that place!
Yikes...I'm old! I was a freshman in college while you were writing about this earthquake!
Post a Comment