Irony of Events? You Tell Me!

So, on August 23 we experienced a 5.8 earthquake here in the Washington, D.C. area. I mirror what others are saying. At first I thought that what was occurring was the simple vibration of a large truck rumbling down the street. It didn't take long for me to realize that we were in the middle of a full-blown earthquake. Now, my family and I went to California just last month. Before going, I considered the possibility that we would encounter the uncomfortable effects of an earthquake. While there, I even had a fleeting thought now and then about the possibility of the earth moving. Who would ever have thought that I would have come home to such a thing? And, by the way, if I am going to endure the sweltering summers and the freezing (for me) winters in the Northern Virginia area while I smugly say that "at least we don't have to worry about earthquakes," then I think that it is only fair that we DON'T have them. Of course, life has never been fair and I am just happy that no one was hurt during this interesting event. I can't say the same for a piece of pottery in my home.

I was on my way out the door to go to the studio for much needed painting time when the earth started to move. My first thought was to be sure that Artie (my son) was fine. He was in the house with me. He is also 22 years old and fully capable of taking care of himself, but I swung into 'mom' mode as soon as apparent danger struck. Then, while we both heard the loud crash of broken glass, I thought about how grateful I was that the glass piece (I wrote about that in a post on June 27) that I just purchased was still in the storage box, safely tucked away in my home studio. So, I was concerned first about Artie and second about art! It is truly odd the things that we think about in the middle of such an event. On the other hand, being concerned about Artie and being concerned about art just about sums up my life thus far!

Artie and I spent at least an hour cleaning up broken glass in the family room of our home. It seems the painting propped on the mantle (propped, not hung, because we don't get earthquakes here) jumped off the shelf taking a piece of pottery with it and the glass shattered into a million pieces. I was reminded of a sculpture that I made in college using broken glass. While scooping up the glass, I thought about saving the pieces to make a new sculpture, but decided against it.

All's well at the studio. Went in there with a bit of trepidation. I even got some work done on a new piece. Now, let's see what happens with the upcoming hurricane.... ​