Art-class models? Or a message to practice more?
I woke up a bit after 4:30 AM because the bed was shaking. "What the hell is the cat doing?" I asked myself. Then I realized the cat was outside. Were they blasting at the quarry south of town this early in the morning? Did something explode? Could it actually be an earthquake?" But this is Indiana. We don't get earthquakes.
I fell back to sleep. Around 7:00 AM I spoke to my daughter. "Did you feel the earthquake last night?" she asked. Turns out it really was an earthquake. How exciting. Centered in southern Illinois, the 5.4 rumble was felt as far as northern Indiana, Chicago, and even Wisconsin.
And here I was trying to blame the cat.
Someone will be trying to blame someone else, I'm sure. When I was doing doctoral studies at Florida State, we experienced a horrible summer drought. A letter to the Tallahassee paper expressed alarm, outrage, and certainty regarding the cause. The writer had just heard that there were nude models (gasp!) used in art classes at FSU. The drought was obviously God's punishment on the region for this shocking immorality. The legislature must take action at once!
Given the little-if-any damage that occurred from this morning's quake, it was obviously just a warning sign. What was the message?
Why, get up and practice, of course!
2 comments:
I also thought it was the cat(s) at first. Then I figured it was a huge truck driving by on Washington St (hey, it was 4 am, my analytic faculties were still asleep).
That's odd. One of my students here in Illinois thought it was his cat too! I don't have a cat, and somehow managed to sleep through it. I got a little chill out of the aftershock the next day though.
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