Earthquake II

I do not want to know what is happening.

On October 17, 2012, we had an earthquake here.  It was not right here but in western Maine and 6 miles or so below the earth's surface.  I was here alone and thought our boiler must have exploded.  But when no hole appeared in the floor nor did smoke emerge from the basement door, I decided a semi must have somehow crashed through the woods and landed in the side of our garage.  Seeing nothing outside and trying to get more clever, I deduced it must have been a huge accident across the river at the iron works.  But shouldn't there be sirens going off then? Though I'd never experienced an earthquake, and there were no reports on the Internet of an earthquake, and given the fact that Maine rarely has an earthquake, I still came to the conclusion that it had to have been an earthquake. I thought earthquakes were felt and not heard... but no, you hear them, too. 

Then yesterday, we had another.  My husband and I were sitting at the table pretending we were at a very nice coffee shop, surfing the Internet and sipping amazing coffee.  Our dog, Pippi, was lying between our chairs, so our coffee shop was just like home.  All was peaceful and calm and then the explosion occurred.  We looked up from our computers and stared across the table at each other.
"Earthquake," I said evenly.  "Just like last time."
My husband had not felt the last one, having been out of state that day.  This one was not as strong, but being closer - like just across to the next peninsula about 6 miles away, and not as deep - it felt and sounded almost the same.
My first brief thought was that something had exploded out of our basement and was now crashing and rumbling through the woods as it escaped.  Being experienced in the ways of earthquakes now, though, I knew what it was and immediately filed a report on USGS before it was even recorded there. There was an aftershock that rumbled through about ten minutes later that we could hear, but not feel.   The dog was not pleased with any of the earthquakes or aftershocks.  She woke up, lifted her head, and, with some concern on her dog face, quietly looked in the direction the rumbling seemed to be headed both times.

In Maine, they have explained that when we have an earthquake, because of the old rocks - the ledge that goes on forever underground here - the earthquake does not have to be of great magnitude to be awe inspiring.  The vibrations travel for hundreds of miles and are loud, due to that huge granite base we are sitting upon.

For hours after these earthquakes, our dog was on high alert.  She paced back and forth last night, trying to stay as close to my husband as possible all evening.  She went down the hall to the office and watched him from the doorway and finally went in and laid down.  She is usually content to sleep out by me as I work around the kitchen or play on the computer.  But not last night.  It seemed she was either concerned about not being able to see both of us in case of another earthquake, or she was actually sensing more aftershocks than we were able to detect.

I will be right here if you need me.

This morning at breakfast, she was especially quick to take up her post under the table.  She never begs, and she doesn't look for dropped food there (though if droppage occurs, she takes care of it).  She just likes being close.

In general, she seems a more relaxed today.  Maybe we can relax for a while, too.  The earthquake aftershocks must be over.  She really doesn't care what I'm doing today.  Napping 'til noon sounds good all around!  I'll open the coffee shop later.