Signs of the Apocolypse?
This was a weird week, and it wasn't just the cold medicine that made things seems like they were going awry all over. (I still have a cough.)
So first there was the cougar. In Chicago. The city's police department handled the situation with their usual level of sensitivity: they shot it. It's hard not to feel sorry for the cat, especially since there were photos of it curled up on the cement much like our little innocent cat (although the cougar was dead.) But I guess cougars can be aggressive. Mayor Daley busted out with an equally sensitive comment about how they had to shoot it or else the city would be sued. I was a little relieved that it wasn't our neighborhood gaining notoriety for this weird news event, but it did happen a block and a half away from my boss's house, and Jason pointed out that since there was an earlier cougar sighting north of us, and then cat was killed south of us, he must have passed through our neighborhood at some point.
Early Friday morning I woke up thinking that Jason had rolled over very violently because our bed was shaking. But I turned and saw that he was still and fast asleep like a babe... and the bed was still shaking. Earthquake! It lasted no more than twenty seconds and then I fell right back asleep. Whatever.
It was amusing to share stories with coworkers about how everyone's unexpectedly roused brain chose to interpret the event: an early morning construction job, a truck driving by, or aggressive burglars. Because the last thing you think of in Chicago is that there will be an earthquake bouncing you out of bed early in the morning.
But when I stood on the train platform chatting with a fellow commuter she was nonchalant, "Oh, it must be the Madrid fault line."
What? Arriving at the office, googling this information was my first task. Who knew that we just moved ourselves closer to the a large fault line?
I thought of the Midwest as safe and insular. (Except for tornadoes, of course, which was one of my worst childhood fears.)
You might be surprised at your proximity to disaster, "The geological survey has designated 26 urban areas in the United States as earthquake risk areas; that list includes New York, Boston, Memphis, Chattanooga, Tenn., and Evansville, Ind." The end may be nigh.
So first there was the cougar. In Chicago. The city's police department handled the situation with their usual level of sensitivity: they shot it. It's hard not to feel sorry for the cat, especially since there were photos of it curled up on the cement much like our little innocent cat (although the cougar was dead.) But I guess cougars can be aggressive. Mayor Daley busted out with an equally sensitive comment about how they had to shoot it or else the city would be sued. I was a little relieved that it wasn't our neighborhood gaining notoriety for this weird news event, but it did happen a block and a half away from my boss's house, and Jason pointed out that since there was an earlier cougar sighting north of us, and then cat was killed south of us, he must have passed through our neighborhood at some point.
Early Friday morning I woke up thinking that Jason had rolled over very violently because our bed was shaking. But I turned and saw that he was still and fast asleep like a babe... and the bed was still shaking. Earthquake! It lasted no more than twenty seconds and then I fell right back asleep. Whatever.
It was amusing to share stories with coworkers about how everyone's unexpectedly roused brain chose to interpret the event: an early morning construction job, a truck driving by, or aggressive burglars. Because the last thing you think of in Chicago is that there will be an earthquake bouncing you out of bed early in the morning.
But when I stood on the train platform chatting with a fellow commuter she was nonchalant, "Oh, it must be the Madrid fault line."
What? Arriving at the office, googling this information was my first task. Who knew that we just moved ourselves closer to the a large fault line?
I thought of the Midwest as safe and insular. (Except for tornadoes, of course, which was one of my worst childhood fears.) You might be surprised at your proximity to disaster, "The geological survey has designated 26 urban areas in the United States as earthquake risk areas; that list includes New York, Boston, Memphis, Chattanooga, Tenn., and Evansville, Ind." The end may be nigh.
Comments
We sometimes get moose in downtown Portland, and the police almost invariably shoot them.
I just won a grant to spend the summer in Morocco, and I'll be starting a blog of my own to document the experience.
Ben M