Did the Snowdrops Tremble?

I woke up late this morning and stayed under the covers, thinking for a great while about what I wanted to write about. I had this sweet little image of snowdrops that I took yesterday and wanted to post, but I had no words. My thoughts were then interrupted by a gentle shake. Then about three seconds of low rumble, and then another quick shake. No one had a hand on my shoulder trying to rouse me out of sleep.... my house was shaking.

I live in an area that is very earthquake prone. I have experienced 5 or 6 of them since moving here ten years ago...each one very different. I remember way back when I started blogging, I wrote a post about how much I loved little earthquakes. Just the little ones, because they were kind of exciting. My feelings have changed over the last few years. We islanders know that we live on a massive fault line...and that we are overdue for a big one. And I mean Big... a 9 or so on the richter scale. And while I know that this could happen anytime between now and the next 200 years, when I hear a low sound or feel any kind of vibration, my body freezes, and my heart starts to race.

I absolutely love living here. I couldn't imagine leaving. But I hate living in fear over this pending doom. It's not a question of if it will happen, but when. And considering I want to grow old here, chances are, I will probably experience one major shaker in my lifetime.

But you know, despite the fear, I have always wanted to experience the feel of an earthquake under my bare feet. I wish I could know when the next one is about to happen so I can go outside and stand in a field and feel the earth literally move under my feet. What would that feel like? Would the grass roll under my arches like the thumbs of a masseuse? Or would it be more of a tremble? Better yet, what would it feel like to lie down on my back? Would I be calm enough to do this? Probably not. I figure, a field would be an ideal place to be though. No trees or buildings to fall on you, and as long as the earth doesn't crack open and create a canyon right under you, what could go wrong?

If only I was psychic and could predict the timing of these things. For now, I will take the little 3.4 quake we just had, and be grateful it was so small. It was just the thing to get my lazy butt out of bed this morning.