Who would have dreamed we’d have so much excitement in our lives leading up to the close of the sale on our home in Virginia Beach? Yesterday we experienced a 5.9 magnitude earthquake and today the coast is bracing for the approach of the season’s first hurricane! What next? Will frogs begin to rain from the skies or a swarm of locust plague Hampton Roads?
Despite nature’s best efforts, the sale will probably go through on Friday. Our last financial tie with the coastline will be cut but after almost three decades of life in Virginia Beach, there will be many connections. I was reminded of this yesterday when, after the earthquake, before I even knew what had happened, I received a text from my friend Laura asking in we were OK. I’d been driving and while stopped at a light had felt the car shake just like we’d caught a strong gust of wind, or had been hit from behind. There were no cars behind me and the trees weren’t moving so I didn’t know what to think had happened. When I got home, my Dad asked if we’d heard the explosion. Almost immediately after that I received Laura’s text. I decided it might be a good idea to turn on the TV to find out just what was going on and was very surprised to discover we were only thirty miles from the epicenter from the strongest earthquake to hit the east coast in almost 150 years. Who’d have thought?
We spent some time in front of the TV, mesmerized by the pictures of crumbled brick walls and groceries strewn in the aisles. The video clips showed the thirty seconds or so of shaking – all of which I missed sitting in the car. It was important to connect to the greater community for reassurance and an explanation.
Although the phone lines were flooded with folks trying to connect, I received about a dozen calls and texts from friends and family checking-in. It was amazing how far-reaching the shaking was felt. My sister Barb in Syracuse felt her desk chair shake. My friends in Virginia Beach had to evacuate their offices and take the stairs up and down from the eighth floor. One of my neighbors was on the golf course and remarked that the cows in the adjacent pastures were “talking” just after the quake.
Today is beautiful, the sun is shining and it is breezy. While we were out running errands I heard someone remark that they thought this was the beginning of Hurrican Irene. I choose to believe it is just a pretty day. A few minutes ago, as I was recalling all the people I spoke to yesterday, I thought of one important person I hadn’t spoken to – our dear friend SunNam in Hawaii.
SunNam was our landlady and surrogate mother for the three years we lived on Oahu. Since leaving, she calls us everything time there is any kind of emergency on the East Coast. Whenever we have experienced a hurricane or blizzard, SunNam has called to make sure we’re alright. She even called when the DC sniper terrorized the the area and after the attach on September 11th. I realized she didn’t have our new phone number so I called her to let her know we were safe.
So, I when I put things in the proper perspective, how can I be concerned with a few obstacles when I have such a bounty of friends and family who stand ready to lift us up if we do fall? As the song goes, “no storm (or quake) can shake my inmost calm, while to that rock I’m clinging……”