On shaky ground

I was lounging on my couch, watching some design show on HGTV (don't all of you go into shock at once, please) this afternoon. Our black cat was behind me on the back of the sofa, with his front feet on my shoulder - it's one of his favorite spots lately. He acts all affectionate, but I think he secretly just likes the view of "House Hunters International" from there.

All of a sudden I felt the back of my head thumping... and I thought the cat had sat up and was scratching, bumping into me. Then I realized the entire ROOM was bumping.

I saw a swaying motion out of the corner of my eye, and I turned my head to see my huge wrought iron baker's rack moving from side to side. My hanging lamps (there are many) were swinging softly, and I felt dizzy and seasick. The cat sat straight up and his eyes got huge.

I ran to the door and looked outside, but everything looked normal out there. The motion had stopped, but my sun catchers, hanging bird houses, and pendant lights were still swinging for five minutes afterwards.

Flipped on the news, and sure enough there was a 5.9 earthquake near Washington D.C. - we felt it all the way up here on Long Island! That was one of the creepiest things I've ever experienced, everything moving under and around me like some bad dream. Can't imagine what it was like for those poor folks in Japan, and other places in the world where everything came down around them.

This was just a little tremor, really - but it makes you feel so odd, so untrusting of your own senses. For just a second I wondered if it was poltergeists, or just my imagination. Everything outside the house seemed so normal.

As above, so below. Got a call from that family member of mine whose marriage is on the rocks, and things are not getting better. I wish I didn't feel so helpless. I want to offer advice and sympathy, and also to jump up and down and say "don't take this crap, grow some cojones and get a divorce and live the kind of life you deserve." But of course that's never helpful, really, is it? It just makes me crazy to see someone in a bad situation and not be able to do a damn thing to help.

After the earthquake, and that phone call, I just felt like I had to get outside and do something - clear my head, work up a sweat. I pulled out the trusty lawn mower, and headed for the front house lawn. Noticed that every time I tilted the mower up to turn it around, it was making this funny metallic buzzing sound. It does that sometimes when the grass builds up inside the mowing chamber and pushes on the blade, so I turned it off and emptied the bag a little more often to keep it from clogging up.

The noise kept happening, though. I finished the front yard, and headed back behind the cottage to do the side yards. Buzz, buzz.... CLUNK. The mower stopped dead. When I tilted it up to inspect, I saw that the body of the mower had actually rusted completely through near the rear left wheel, causing it to buckle... and the blade had embedded itself several inches into the metal surround around the bottom of the mower!

Turns out the "trusty old mower" had one too many "t"s.

I am now embracing the fact that this day is just one of those days. No more projects involving spinning blades. No investing large sums of money. No juggling eggs. I was thinking of taking a shower and washing my hair... think it's safe?