Before The 11th
The earthquake yesterday was a 3.9 on the Richter scale, so say the experts. It felt stronger, all of it packed into a short jolt of about a second. Emmy disappeared under the bed for an hour. Another short jolt an hour later, an aftershock, 3.0 on the Richter scale. Felt like someone poked the building with a padded telephone pole. If that's a 3.9, then what's a 7.8, the earthquake that hit San Franciso in 1906, an earthquake that lasted some 45 seconds? I believe, according to the scale, that would be almost ten thousand times stronger, each whole integer a factor of ten. Forty-five seconds? I could imagine not surviving. Where will I be, in what building, on what highway, under what bridge? Ponderous pondering for a Friday, methinks.
And, come to think of it, will you have enough film on hand? Should you survive and be alive.
Earthquakes, wars, terror attacks and fires (oh my!) and it's only Friday, six days before the 11th.
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