Wednesday, August 24, 2011

Shaky Weather

On Sunday, Leia acted peculiar. Panting and trembling like she does during a thunderstorm. Except on this day the skies were blue and the Sun was shining like it does on any typical beautiful day. I figured she heard some heavy truck rumble past the house or had a nightmare and dismissed it.

Then on Monday, she did it again. Panting, breathing hard, tail between her legs, fearful. I got worried. She's eight years old and I got worried that she was having heart problems or worse. We contemplated making an appointment with the vet.

Yesterday, at about 10:30 AM she was lying on the floor shaking.  This time I knew something was definitely amiss with my dog. I readied my mind for the harsh realities of life and began to assume she was having some serious health issues.

Then at about ten minutes to 2:00 PM, the house started shaking. The walls made a series of booming, banging noises like one hundred children were running in the halls above.  Then the floor shimmied like the rug was literally being pulled out from under my feet.  I noticed the water in our aquariums sploshing out from side to side. A picture fell from our wall and crashed to the floor. The best description I can come up with is bouncing.  Our building was bouncing.

Thirty seconds later it stopped.  Immediately I got a text from Lynette: "Earthquake!"

After my adrenaline settled and I got my bearings I looked down at Leia and realized she knew it was coming.  I said to her, "You knew."  And she wagged her tail.

Morale of the story: Listen to your dog, man. She knows a hell of a lot more than you do.

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