Hat dream/ Earthquake

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Last night I was sleeping, soundly in my humble Honduran abode. I was having a dream about my hat, one of my favorite things to dream about. I find that dreaming about my hat is the second best thing to actually wearing it. Sometimes it's even better, seeing as how my forehead never sweats in dreams. However, last night's hat dream was different. One could even say it was a hat nightmare. The problem was that the hemp used to weave the Scala, from Sri Lanka, was all falling out. All that was left was some wire. The wire confused me, because there is no wire in my hat, but in my dream the hat was clearly supported by a firm wire cage. I was explaining to the science teacher, Alfredo, that the hat just simply couldn't serve it's intended purpose and just when I was about to put it on my head (to prove my point) the earth started to shake and I woke up.

Here is what happened: My leg was hanging off the end of the bed and it felt like it was being tossed around by one of my older brothers. That is what woke me up. If any of you have older siblings and have ever, at any point, shared sleeping quarters with them then you too wake at even the slightest tug of a toe. After waking to my jiggling leg I realized that the entire house was moving back and forth, which is weird because it's never done that before. My bed felt like it was on top of an old busted hydraulic lift. It was moving back and forth and hitting the wall. The power moving the bed was big, even though I was still in the daze of my waking moments, I could comprehend the mammoth scale of what was happening in my bedroom.

At that point I was pretty much frozen on the spot; it was only 2:30 AM, I was just waking up, and already the entire world was convulsing in protest to itself. At that point two things brought me peace and reassurance. First and foremost, I saw my hat hanging from the dresser. That meant I was just imagining the whole hat catastrophe and I was guaranteed at least one more day with my dear friend. Second, I heard people screaming in the streets. That meant I was not imagining this geological agitation. "Well," I thought, "I still have my hat, so it's not a complete disaster."

I remained on the bed, motionless and listened to the city tremble. I could hear the ground moaning and growling beneath me. Next door I heard glass fall off my neighbor's table and brake. Out in the road a drunk was screaming, "¡Levántate, levántate!" The quake must have lasted a good 30 seconds. It was strong for about 5 to 10 seconds and then it seemed to fade away, but it still shook everything pretty fiercely. It made my concrete apartment feel like I was on top of shaky scaffolding. Once the tremor had stopped I was left in silence, sitting in the dark like a scared hamster who's cage had just been bumped by a clumsy kid with red curly hair and thick glasses.

I started to think about some of the week's events. The ant swarm in my room and the few mosquito bites, in combination with this earthquake, all started to seem less like every day life and more like some personal plague brought down on me. Before you judge me you should know that it made sense in the dark while the house was shaking. I figured if anyone is getting left behind it will probably be me, so I called Karina to make sure we were all still here. However sleeping beauty didn't feel a thing in Paradise, so when her crazy boyfriend called at 2:30 in the morning the call was ignored. It wasn't until later on this morning that she answered the phone. "Oh that's why you called at 2:30 AM!" was her response.

Such was my first earthquake; 7.1 aint so bad for a rookie I guess.

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Photos

The Scala
Aint she a beaut?

Glory
My bike, Glory, fell over.

Axed
The deodorant tipped over and was leaning on the Axe this morning.

Comments

[Buddy]

Glad You're Okay
Clint, I'm glad to hear you are okay. I've been thinking about you and praying for the folks in Honduras since I heard about the earthquake. And glad to hear our friends in El Paraiso were unharmed. Still wishing I could join you and Katrina for your wedding day...God bless you, mi amigo. Buddy

[Patti]

SO GLAD TO SEE THIS POSTING!
Clint - I was SOOO worried about you. I heard about this earthquake and feared it was where you are located. I am so glad you are okay. Earthquakes are a freaky experience! When I lived in Japan we had one EVERY year when we sat down for Christmas dinner. I mean BIG ones, that made us leave the table and seek cover, door frames, etc...Any hooo .....(got that from you!LOL) I am happy that you are fine and got to experience this quake. It's humbling isn't it - what power nature holds.

[Eric Chaffee]

Hat trick
Hey, El Gato Ensombrerado, that's quite the hat trick. Hockey fans, his bike fell over, and he wasn't even riding it. Whew! Glad you're safe. Watch out for those dreams! Last night I dreamt that actress Glen Close, portraying a Soviet journalist, asked me if she could borrow my pen, as hers had run out. She then proceeded to write on my white sock. Go figure! Be careful what you dream. And don't believe anything that Chicken Little says. ~eric.

[Julie Chen]

sentimos aliviados
Is my grammar correct? We were relieved when we heard the earthquake originated off the coast, so we knew there were good chances that you'd be okay.