09/07/2004: "Hurricane vs Earthquake"

music: Harry Potter
mood: "normal"

Well the day has zoomed away from me. Then next month or so is bound to be pretty zippy as rehearsals for both shows start this week and next, giving me on average 1-2 evenings free per week, and a stray weekend day with no rehearsal. Organizing house managers and taking over the box office for the Pear Avenue theatre for the next month also start this week and I wager I will be at work late as the next wave of season announcements start to kick in about now. But I rather like being busy, it makes me far more social because I feel like I need the rest and it makes me much more efficient. But that is neither here nor there.

Although the last week has been in the 90’s (I am in heaven) I couldn’t help but overhear all about the hurricanes in Florida. A friend of mine who lives in Northern Florida has been getting a lot of calls to make sure she is okay. I had to laugh. Her response is as follows….

Thanks so much to those of you who've checked in. Very sweet. One
thing to always keep in mind, though, when you hear about wacky weather in
Florida is that Florida is not wee, it is not not-so-wee, it is in fact
freakin' huge. So usually when there's hurricane action in South Florida,
we in North Fl/Southern GA are spared. Further, perhaps the only plus to
not living on the coast is that hurricanes rarely make it this far inland.

So, luckily, everyone down here in Tallahassee is fine. And, yes, Susannah,
we got lots of thunder and lightening. So, really, for us it was even a bit
fun.

This is a similar phenomenon to when there is an earthquake in Los Angeles. Although I have been known to make the spontaneous trip down there, it is 400 miles from San Jose and the likelihood of any damage being done that far from LA is very slim. Still I suppose god to get the call in before the Northern Quake hits I guess.

People who do not live where there are Earthquakes often time are afraid of them and I have fielded a lot of questions about them and how I could live I a place like that. I have felt probably less than 20 earthquakes in my entire life and can only remember 2 of any great significance. There is an earthquake “season” and earthquake “weather” but it is nothing like the Hurricane season and though a really big earthquake can trigger fires and cause lots of physical damage, that is rare, it would appear that hurricanes ( and tornadoes for that matter too) though predictable, cause a bunch more damage. If given the choice between a hurricane every year with the potential to ruin your house through wind and water damage or a large earthquake that may or may not cause any damage every oh 10 years, I think you know where I would rather be.

Nature is awesome and I imagine watching the hurricane come in and the ocean swell and the palms bend is as big a thrill to some as the SOUND of an earthquake to me. Just something so awesome you can’t replicate realistically. The earth is alive, and a quake is just a little reminder of who is in control.

It’s a pity we don’t name our quakes though like they do hurricanes. For those of you as curious as I was about just who does the naming and why here’s a little something for you. If I were to name the earthquakes I would make sure to name them as if I were a 5 year old naming her kitten, then it would sound less frightening. Earthquake Fluffy, Earthquake Missy…etc. And to make the smaller quakes feel better maybe they could get names like Earthquake Brutus, Earthquake IAGO, and Earthquake Marlon. As in Brando….Who knows.

I miss having the discovery channel, and though I am enjoying the heat and sun this week, a part of me is indeed awaiting a heat lighting storm in the Santa Teresa Hills on night. Be safe out there!