I was sitting at the kitchen table just after 6:30 pm when it suddenly sounded like a semi truck was pummeling toward our house. Then the house shook for a few seconds and made those familiar cracking noises that happen when everything shifts.
It’s amazing what can happen in your brain during a few short seconds. I wasn’t scared, per se, but I was definitely on high alert. I did inventory of my family, making sure I knew where everyone was. Then I was getting ready to duck under the table, if necessary, and holler to my kids to take cover. I could feel muscle memory activating in my body - old responses from the years of aftershocks we experienced after the 2020 earthquake. It all came right back. In three short seconds of shaking, my brain experienced years' worth of processing and decision making.
Everything was fine. The shaking was short, and we didn’t have any notable aftershocks, but I reverted back to an old version of myself. My body remembers earthquakes. So now, in response, I’m back to being sensitive to every vibration and sound around me. I live on a busy street and in the flight path to the Salt Lake City airport, so there are a lot of daily rumblings to assess.
In fact, the very reason I’m even writing this post is because I was in bed wide awake at 4:30 this morning, and Scotty moved just the slightest, and the bed shifted in response, and my brain had to process the movement as *Not Earthquake.*
Update: We had a 1.9 quake while I was writing this post (I didn't feel anything - I jsut thought it was a funny coincidence).
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