After the aftershock

The earthquake woke us up, but as time passes, denial (or maybe it’s hope), sets in. For now, all’s quiet on the western front but in most conversations, people are saying they were terrified.

One friend’s impulse to rush his girlfriend under the door frame impressed me – what a great man, thinking of her first. People were out with their flashlights helping. Some were picking up tiny glass pieces and trying to glue them back together. Others got busy organizing earthquake preparedness meetings.Thank God for a girlfriend who let me stop over the next day to have a big hairball (you know what I mean, those stuck feelings in the throat)because I was so scared.

Hey, nobody can control a quake.

I wake in the middle of the night wondering what’s next after these shakes and unpredictable events. There’s even confusion about how these earthquakes happen. Which county is going next? Whose fault is it?

But, what stands out in all of this turbulence is the power of community. Some roamed around their neighborhoods helping each other, lifting major items out of the way so they could enter their homes. Most said, “How come so much stuff didn’t break, but the roaring was so loud?”

Guess we were slip sliding instead of rattling this time. We were luckier than Napa.

Wood tumbled from Steve Klein’s shelves, blocking his doorway, causing a huge cut in his arm. Bleeding profusely and scared to death in the dark, he finally shoved the wood out of his way. I saw the gash and it was deep and real.

I’ve heard everything, from people thinking, “Oh, this is it, I am dying,” and then going back to sleep. Or, some people’s dogs landing full throttle on their owner’s bodies, shaking with the quake.

As the days go on, conversations are about how the line that runs through Rodgers Creek would demolish our cozy homes.

Through all this, I flashed back to the news of suffering in other countries and counties, humans and animals reverberating in constant terror. I thought about how it must feel every day. Such helplessness and destruction is constant in this world.

Well, you can’t take it with you, and we can only take one step at a time, even on fragile ground. For now, the dust has settled, but our lives are forever changed. Maybe that’s because we were terrified together.

Being shaken to our knees, there’s only one way up and that’s higher power and people.

Get bottled water, put shoes under your bed and keep the faith. Be patient with your neighbors. We need each other.

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Katy Byrne is a writer and therapist living in Boyes Hot Springs.