my second earthquake experienced from a bed

By now you've probably heard about (or felt directly) the earthquake that happened not too far from here during the wee small hours of the morning. I had been dreaming when I got jolted to an awake and upright position at 4:37 am by the grinding noise and not-quite-but-nearly violent shaking of my bed. I was not afraid during the earthquake itself, just alert. Alert to what, I'm not sure, since I certainly took no immediate action - I considered moving to a doorway and I guess I would have if the shaking had become much worse. It didn't, so I stayed right where I was until the shaking stopped. I got up to check on some things in the apartment once it was over - no perceptible damage, but then I don't have anything hanging on the walls. A glance outside didn't indicate any anomalies in the terrain, and the train whose whistle I heard as it passed the crossing didn't seem to have any difficulties moving by. I heard a couple of people in other apartments up and about, and at that odd hour I supposed it must have been for the same reason as I was. I only got a little frightened after the fact, scared that maybe those shakes were just the pre-cursor to a larger quake. That and I had no one to compare notes with at the time, so it was a little disorienting as I slipped back toward drowsiness to think that maybe I'd dreamed it, or that I hadn't dreamed it but that it was caused by supernatural forces. (It was 4:37 in the morning, forgive me for being not at my most logical. Plus, I was primed by a conversation I'd had earlier that night, and by a recollection of a story told to me a long time ago).

Anyway, although this was definitely the stronger of the two earthquakes I've experienced, it was not my first. Back in June of 2004 (06/28/04), I was reading in bed a little after 1 in the morning. I felt a slight rolling or undulating movement underneath me and saw some hangers swinging in my closet. A did-I-really-feel-that? kind of thing, very mild in comparison to today's event. Perhaps the fact that I'd been through one before contributed to my lack of fear and confusion upon being awakened today?

"published" on schmap

One of my pictures from my 2006 trip to France has been used in schmap.com's most recent edition of its guide to Paris. It happens to be one of the ones I took when I was at the Paris Sewer Museum.