My morning began as most of my mornings begin.
I had just begun the process of getting ready, which at this stage, meant sitting on my bed and brushing my teeth.
It was 8:30 in the morning, and as I pulled up the weather on my phone, I felt my bed start to shake.
I’ve been through enough earthquakes in my time in both California and Alaska to know when one’s coming on, and let me tell you:
One was coming on.
So I got up to go downstairs and all of a sudden, it got bigger. And bigger.
The shaking escalated as my chandeliers swung and things began cartwheeling off of my shelves and somewhere in between my dive for rescue underneath the door frame, I threw my toothbrush into oblivion.
And in those few seconds, I felt complete powerlessness.
Like a tiny insignificant speck at the mercy of Mother Nature’s strength, the most I could do was wait it out and pray that the shaking would end soon.
It was downright the most terrifying sensation I have ever felt and not two minutes after it happened, we got a tsunami warning on our phones to evacuate to high ground.
Just like that, Alaska experienced another 7.2 earthquake, added to the list of quakes that have already struck this strong state.
It was a doozy of a day after that, a day filled with stalking social media for evidence of the destruction (of which there was plenty of in Anchorage), checking the earthquake sites for updates on the tsunami, and then precautionary tidying up at the house to protect against expected aftershocks.
See, this quake not only made me feel, but it also made me think.
It made me think of Alaskans, and how brave and resilient its people are.
We live in a pretty sensational place and despite appearances, it’s not just made for the beautiful. It’s made for the wild.
Alaska is rough, rugged, and full of danger that its residents have prepared for, especially when it comes to threatening natural disasters. Throughout the years, we’ve adapted our lifestyle to accommodate her and there grew this mutual respect between Alaska and her inhabitants.
The quake today was a big one, one of the larger ones we Alaskans have braved, but we remained cool, calm, and collected, and our strong community came together and got through it.
Geez, within the past month, I left a state burning on both ends and came home to a state that hit me with a 7.2 earthquake and subsequent tsunami warning ( and multiple aftershocks).
And somewhere in there I lost my darn toothbrush.
Never a dull moment, that’s for sure.
Also, I think it’s prelevant to mention that in my moment of evacuation panic, this is what I threw on. Like the Unsinkable Molly Brown, I was leaving in style...
