It Was Tuesday Just a Second Ago
Pretend it's not actually 12:05 a.m. That way I can talk about what happened five years ago today and we can all agree that I mean Tuesday, February 28.
Do you know what happened five years ago today? Anyone? Anyone?
That's right! The Nisqually Earthquake, magnitude 6.8 on the Richter scale shook our house and caused me to run upstairs to my son, instead of crawling under a sturdy piece of furniture as I suppose I should have. My son, then barely three years old, had been playing "Yoshi" on Nintendo 64 and frankly, couldn't have cared less about the shaking of our house. I felt like I was in a snowglobe and not in a good way.
But nothing broke and that crack in the ceiling? We ignore it. Perhaps it was there before, right? Normal house settling and all.
Also, today is Fat Tuesday (as well call it in Seattle) or Mardi Gras. Last hurrah before Lent and everything. I did not grow up around the Lenten traditions and the first time I saw ash smudged on foreheads when I was a new bride living in New Haven, Connecticut, I eyed people curiously. Growing up in a Pentecostal tradition means you lack liturgical observances. Sure, people would hoop and holler in church and once, I saw a group of people trying to cast a demon out of a girl who was simply having an epileptic seizure, but no one ever mentioned Lent. Or Ash Wednedsay. (Or Fat Tuesday, of course, because everyone knows that drinking alcohol is a sin if you are a Pentecostal Christian, at least it was in the old days.)
So I enter the season of Lent without any preparation or plans. I regret that, too. I wish my life were more measured and solemn and observant. And I wish I got out of the house alone more often and I wish I had more Diet Coke with Lime and I wish it were not so late. I wish I were not so distracted and I wish I hadn't waited until the last minute to do my little writing assignment because I missed watching the last half of "American Idol." I wish I knew what to make for dinner tomorrow and I wish the taxes were already done.
And just because I want to make a note of it, I have to tell you that my husband and I were laughing over the fact that four cars sit in our driveway tonight. The one that drives the best doesn't even belong to us and it has over 250,000 miles on it. That says something, doesn't it?
Yes, it does. It says "L-O-S-E-R-S."
[But at least we don't have a baby rat in our house. Read this and laugh!]
Do you know what happened five years ago today? Anyone? Anyone?
That's right! The Nisqually Earthquake, magnitude 6.8 on the Richter scale shook our house and caused me to run upstairs to my son, instead of crawling under a sturdy piece of furniture as I suppose I should have. My son, then barely three years old, had been playing "Yoshi" on Nintendo 64 and frankly, couldn't have cared less about the shaking of our house. I felt like I was in a snowglobe and not in a good way.
But nothing broke and that crack in the ceiling? We ignore it. Perhaps it was there before, right? Normal house settling and all.
Also, today is Fat Tuesday (as well call it in Seattle) or Mardi Gras. Last hurrah before Lent and everything. I did not grow up around the Lenten traditions and the first time I saw ash smudged on foreheads when I was a new bride living in New Haven, Connecticut, I eyed people curiously. Growing up in a Pentecostal tradition means you lack liturgical observances. Sure, people would hoop and holler in church and once, I saw a group of people trying to cast a demon out of a girl who was simply having an epileptic seizure, but no one ever mentioned Lent. Or Ash Wednedsay. (Or Fat Tuesday, of course, because everyone knows that drinking alcohol is a sin if you are a Pentecostal Christian, at least it was in the old days.)
So I enter the season of Lent without any preparation or plans. I regret that, too. I wish my life were more measured and solemn and observant. And I wish I got out of the house alone more often and I wish I had more Diet Coke with Lime and I wish it were not so late. I wish I were not so distracted and I wish I hadn't waited until the last minute to do my little writing assignment because I missed watching the last half of "American Idol." I wish I knew what to make for dinner tomorrow and I wish the taxes were already done.
And just because I want to make a note of it, I have to tell you that my husband and I were laughing over the fact that four cars sit in our driveway tonight. The one that drives the best doesn't even belong to us and it has over 250,000 miles on it. That says something, doesn't it?
Yes, it does. It says "L-O-S-E-R-S."
[But at least we don't have a baby rat in our house. Read this and laugh!]
posted by Melodee at Wednesday, March 01, 2006
10 Comments:
I'd take being overcome with spirit and laying-of-the-hands over lousy forehead ashes, incense and candle lighting any day of the week!
We're slowly creeping in to the land of owning zero reliable cars, and I'm not liking it.
Just last night, we were invited to daughter's house for pancakes, and I speculated on the meaning of shrove for it's more commonly called Shrove Tuesday here -- of Pancake Tuesday. Strangely enough, this uninformed, foremerly Pentecostal boy got it right -- about the meaning of shrove (attribute this to reading). It does come from the old verb "to shrive" which has to do with absolving people of their sins. I just thought that I would say all that, for no apparent reason. Don't mind me.
Mel,
It could say your laying your treasures up in heaven.
This area used to be predominantly Catholic. I used to think I was the only kid in school who wasn't one. Everybody had ashes on Ash Wednesday. Now it's something I rarely see. I wonder why?
I think I was in my thirties before I so ashes on foreheads in public.
Thanks for the link to QC, what a hoot.
Wow - has it been 5 yrs already? It took quite a while for me to realize that it was actually an earthquake. I was holding M, walking in the kitchen and couldn't figure out why the stupid dishwasher was making so much noise. It wasn't until I opened it (which temporarily shut it off), that I realized the noise was the whole house shaking. I yelled upstairs to my daughter and asked her if she felt anything moving and she thought her little brother was teasing her by wiggling her bunkbed. By the time she answered, everything stopped. At least there was no loss of life with that earthquake!
Hope is the thing with feathers
That perches in the soul,
And sings the tune without the words,
And never stops at all
(Emily Dickinson)
Your posts..your tone even through frustations and sickness speads hope.
You have a wonderful voice in your writing.
I will be visiting Seattle soon..so hold off a bit longer for the next earthquake.
Earthquakes - been there, didn't like them.
Unreliabale cars - still there, don't like them.
QC link - been there, loved it!
Oh, gosh, I forgot about the earthquake! I remember it now. I was at work, on the phone with a vendor, on hold, and I hung up and got under my desk. A minute later the phone rang and I reached up and got it. It was the vendor, thinking we'd been cut off. She wanted to give me the phone number for tech support, and I said, "I'm sorry, I can't write it down, we've just had an earthquake and I'm under my desk and don't have a pencil."
(sorry to hijack your comments. I'm on hiaitus, so I'm not posting, but comments don't count, right?)
It's never to late to start observing the Lenten season and making traditions of your own to prepare for Christ's death and resurrection!!! :)
BTW, earthquakes are scary!!!! I love your analogy though of being in a snowglobe and not in a good way. That really describes the feeling!
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