There’s A Whole Lotta Shakin Goin On!

We sat Emma and Mac down yesterday to give them the safety plan in case there was an earthquake.  We noticed before we came that there were couple over the last few weeks and that talking about it before it happens, would be better.  The plan was simple, if the house starts to shake, run out of your room and into the courtyard.  Well, the plan was all good in theory but they had questions.  And the questions set off a series of more questions that initiated fear of the unknown of earthquakes.  They both were afraid to go into a room alone because there might be a…well, you know.  Kristin and I assured them that we would keep them safe and even if there was an earthquake, we would be ok. 

At around 2am local time, Kristin wakes me up to the whole house shaking.  The chandelier in each room, the hanging fern plants, trees, it’s all just rocking back and forth.  And not just a subtle rock, it was a substantial swaying.  We both ran downstairs and perched ourselves on some outdoor furniture in the courtyard right outside the kids room and… we swayed.  Back and forth for about 2 minutes.  To me it felt like getting off a ride at the fair and it taking a few seconds to get my bearings because my body still thinks it’s in motion.  My stomach swimming a little, dogs are barking all around and car alarms are going off.  Remarkably, the power remains on until an aftershock around 4am local time.  The 7.1 quake was centered, best I can gather from the internet, off the coast of Honduras.  The biggest aftershock was listed as a 4.9, the one that shut off the power.  The kids never flinched, but kept snoozing away.

This morning at breakfast over a bowl of Cookie Crisps, Emma point blank asked me, “Daddy, was there an earthquake last night or something?”  I paused.  Mac, with spoon in mouth stopped and looked at me too.  Still pausing.  I knew neither one had felt it nor would they know the difference if I were to say “No.”  But I didn’t.  I told them there was an earthquake and that mommy and daddy woke up and made sure everything was safe.  They both kind of shrugged and said “OK” and returned to the Cookie Crisps.  A few minutes later, Emma and Mac came up the stairs to our bedroom porch where there are views of four nearby volcanoes.  Volcano Fuego began erupting, as it does daily.  A plume of smoke shot straight into the sky and the four of us sat and watched. 

We are 2 days into our 5 week quest and already we have witnessed incredible things.  Thanks for riding along with us.      

“He who looks at the earth, and it trembles, who touches the mountains, and they smoke.” Psalm 104:32