This Is Your Wakeup Call(s)
(As well as additional proof that I’m a Sweet Guy)
Wakeup calls this morning seemed to come pretty regular - and repeatedly - and early.
First call from Charles Richter at 4:36 AM was enough to get us all up and going as his call coordinated shaking of our bed with Nan’s jumping up and turning on the light. My instant response was to ask, “Where’s Sophie?”
Our Golden Retriever used to have seizures and while these have not appeared in a year or so of treatment, the trembling of the bed seemed to correspond with one those. We had always suspected they were a result of exposure to Hubie’s WMD attacks during the Sky-Raider construction. (See Sophie’s Health)
However, Nan replied by pointing to Sophie lying on the floor, head slightly raised and one big brown eye looking up with that, “What-the-hell-are-you-people-up-to-now” expression. “She’s alright - I thought she was having a seizure.”
Me too, except my sleep muddled brain now zeros in on the probability that some giant bird had fallen on the balcony outside our bedroom and is beating it’s wings against the wall in a desperate struggle to get away. As I was wondering why my wife would be so stupid as to stand close to that wall where the monster bird might any second come crashing through, she asked, “earthquake?”
While we were agreeing that the earthquake possibility was the lesser of the evils (I didn’t mention the bird attack) and getting back to bed - our second wakeup call came in at 4:46 AM. This one from daughter Dani who is spending the night in a St. Louis hotel in order to catch an early morning flight to Cleveland. She informs us that the hotel was swaying pretty well and there was nothing on TV but bad horror movies and she had been up all night.
Typical of her, as we have long suspected vampire genes there. She always works (or plays) nights and sleeps days - and her career centers on lab work including a lot of research with blood.
After that call, we chat for a second or two, wondering “who next?”
At 5:02 AM, the third wake up is again from daughter Dani who cannot overcome the desire to have her parents well informed of current events and tells us that the internet has already posted the occurrence of a 5.4 earthquake centered in Evansville, IN.
Good to know these things instead of wasting brainpower sleeping.
Followed by the fourth wake up at 5:44 AM by Nan’s nephew near Cincinnati, inquiring about our safety. Giving him a little credit, he is in a different time zone.
Nan announces that she quits and is getting up. We begin to wonder who we can call to annoy with worthless information and she suggests we call my brother and ask if he has fled to his basement.
Proving that I am, in fact, a sweet man we don’t make the call. (See One Sweet Guy)
Interesting footnote strengthening my faith in science are several news releases already on the Internet, pinpointing the epicenter of the (from 5.2 to 5.4) quake at 6 miles from West Salem, IL; 6 miles from Mt. Carmel, IL; 3 miles from Belmont, IL, etc.
Nice to have choices.
