“Kid, I’ve flown from one side of this galaxy to the other. I’ve seen a lot of strange stuff. . .” Han Solo, Star Wars IV: A New Hope

               Han Solo was right. There are a lot of strange things that happen on our planet. Some cannot be explained away by science. Yet, this is the weird part. Science can explain some of them. Those are the ones that make me think, Han, buddy. There are strange things that science can explain. But the force isn’t one of them.

               Some things that frighten me happen on planet Earth. Our galaxy is scary when you consider how massive planets and stars are. And watching wildfires, sinkholes, floods, volcanoes erupting, and earthquakes makes me realize how small we are.

               Growing up in Pacific Northwest may have sheltered me from major thunderstorms and tornadoes, but not from volcanic eruptions or earthquakes. Rain showers were a dime a dozen in Seattle, and winds weren’t a big deal, living close enough to the Pacific Ocean to feel the power of the winds and the waves. Earthquakes? That was different. Until I moved to California, earthquakes, like tornadoes, were unicorns, mythical and unreal. Until third grade, I didn’t know what an earthquake drill was, much less what to do if one happened.

               My first earthquake scared the ever-living snot out of me. I was used to rain, thunder, and maybe a flash of heat lightning, but nothing like the storms in the Midwest United States. I think we had lived in California for a few months, moving to our address on Alcosta Boulevard in San Ramon, near Crow Canyon Road. We had a sunken living room and a couch that slid across the hardwood floor like it was on ice. James, Jon, and I used to screw with each other often, sliding the sofa across the floor from the back, out of view of the person sitting on the couch. It was all fun and games until we all experienced our first earthquake.

               Dad didn’t prepare us for earthquakes. Come to think of it, I don’t think he mentioned it once to us. If he did, I forgot about it. But the first one we experienced together.

               It started out slow, building until it shook us like a gallon of paint in a paint shaker at a hardware store. I was lying across the couch in the living room, watching cable television, a new medium for all of us. The sofa started sliding back and forth, me thinking James was moving it. I sat up, starting to yell at James, “James! Knock it off!” Then I saw there was no one behind me! What the heck? The ground was moving, and no one was pushing it? What kind of power is this?

                 “Boys!” Dad yelled. “It’s an earthquake! Get in here! Now!” I ran into the middle of the house, meeting Dad, James, and Jon. Our bookshelves lost all their contents, books and knickknacks hitting the carpeted floor. The chandelier in the kitchen swung back and forth, reminding me of stormy ocean waves. I think it lasted for twelve seconds, but when you are panicking, that feels like a lifetime! After it was over, Dad walked around the house, inspecting where the stucco separated. The cracks in the plaster ran near the bottom of the house, almost like the quake separated the foundation from the stucco. As kids, that was the scariest thing we experienced in our young lives. Sure, there were more after that, but the next time we were ready – as much as we could be.

               But earthquake drills at school? Yeah. For us, that was a new thing. Inside, if an earthquake happened, you were required to get underneath your desk, duck, and cover. I thought it stupid to get underneath a desk that would crush me if something heavier fell on it. But I was a kid. I trusted the school’s administration because I was supposed to trust the adults educating us. If we were moving between classes, you were supposed to find shelter under a doorframe or exterior wall. Again, didn’t exactly seem safe to me, even as a kid, but what the hell did I know? And if you found yourself outside, like outside on the playground or in one of the fields playing kickball, baseball, or wiffleball, you were told to listen for the whistle and stand your ground. Stay stationary. Don’t more. But only if you were outside, away from the buildings. I never expected it to happen, but it’s California. Anything can happen here!

               I never expected to experience an earthquake outside of the classroom, much less to see what happened that day.

               We were outside, playing kickball in a field farthest from the buildings, close to I-680. The game proceeded as expected; the teams were divided between the best and worst players, of which I was among the worst. That was to be expected, considering I hated physical activity. I hated outside. I’d rather be inside, telling a story or reading a book. Instead of being stuck in right field, a position I often played, I was in center field. If someone kicked the ball hard enough to get it to where I was meant, they should be playing semi-pro preteen soccer. It didn’t happen. At least not that day. But the whistle was unexpected. Three short blasts signaled an earthquake, and, just as we were taught, everyone stood in stationary spots, just like the evergreen trees running the length of the school on the west side of I-680.  

               In the few seconds that the earthquake lasted, I watched the ground. It rippled. Ruffles chips have ridges, and that’s precisely what the land looked like – waves rolling across the fields! The land was waving, like the Pacific Ocean crashing into the beach. It was the weirdest thing. I couldn’t get over how wild it was to be standing on waves ON LAND! Everyone was stationary for several seconds until the earthquake ended, and the whistles blew three short blasts, indicating the quake was over.

               The bases we used for kickball were made of flexible rubber, sturdy enough for kids to run over them. But they only stayed in place if you didn’t kick or bump them. When the quake was over, we realized everyone had moved exactly twenty-five feet forward.

How did I know?

               When it was over, I stood on top of second base without lifting either of my feet!