Earthquake!

Me at the great oak tree at Northwood Cemetery, Downingtown, PA

Where were you when the Great Earthquake hit yesterday?  Bill and I were in Pennsylvania.  Bill wanted to visit our old property (again) and I wanted to visit three cemeteries to take more pictures.  I also wanted to visit our cemetery plots at the Northwood Cemetery in Downingtown, Pennsylvania.

Where Bill and I will be "planted"

So where were we when the earth shook on the east coast at 1:51.04 pm?  We had just left my brother Isaac's home on Hopewell Road outside of Downingtown and were headed towards Wegmans (my absolute favorite SUPER market in the whole world) for lunch before we head to the Northwood Cemetery on a hill overlooking Downingtown.  We didn't feel a thing.

The only earthquake I ever experienced in my life was a very mild earthquake back in the 70's when we lived in Philadelphia.  That earthquake occurred about 1 o'clock in the morning.  We lived in a three story townhouse in center city Philadelphia.  I remember hearing a ominous rumbling and a slight but dangerous movement of the house where I was sleeping on the third floor bedroom.  I'm usually a heavy sleeper but I woke up right away and I knew exactly what was happening.  I jumped out of bed and onto the floor which was MOVING.  The whole episode only lasted for about six seconds but that six seconds all kinds of thoughts went through my mind.  "Could I make it down the stairs in time?"  No.  "Could I open the window to the bedroom and try and climb down the side of the building and drop to the deck on the second floor?"  No.  Man was I ever focused.  Then as I was still reviewing my options the trembling and rumbling stopped.  It was over.  I went back to bed.


The next morning when I awoke I wasn't sure whether I had dreamed it or not.  However, watching the news on TV that morning confirmed that I had indeed been through an earthquake, however mild.  It was still the scariest thing I had ever experienced in my life.


Ironically, where we were going yesterday after lunch at Wegmans was Northwood Cemetery, where I have two plots (side by side) for me and Bill.  I bought the burial plots after my father died in 2000.  I am now ready to buy my tombstone.

This is where my tombstone will go, right next to the Chinese guy (can you believe it? There goes the neighborhood)