I Felt The Earth Move Under My Feet....

That Carole King song has been in my head all day today.

We have been rockin’ and rollin’ here in Southern California as I write this on July 4, 2019.

Now I’m a native Southern Californian so I’m no stranger to earthquakes.

I remember standing in our front doorway with my whole family back in 1971 and watching the street in front of our house undulate like huge waves in the ocean. And power poles wobble crazily while the power lines between them stretched and slacked. (Back then, we were told to stand in a doorway because it was believed to be the strongest part of a structure. Now it’s duck and cover under a sturdy table or desk.)

The scariest one I ever experienced was in the bottom of a canyon near Mammoth Mountain. It roared through that gorge like a freight train. There were huge boulders above us on both sides. We scrambled up that hill so fast you’d think someone lit a fire under us! That one was terrifying!

This one we had today was centered over a hundred miles away so it was really mild by the time it reached us. Mr. Redoux and I were standing in the kitchen and all of a sudden I felt like I was on a boat. Pitching and rolling. I was leaning against the kitchen counter. And it was moving back and forth. I thought he was making it move. And I couldn’t figure out how or why he was doing it. I looked at him and said ‘Something’s really weird.’ ‘Do you feel it too?’ Then we both realized at the same time ‘Oh, it’s an earthquake.’ (It’s pretty funny what goes through your mind in the split second before you realize what’s actually happening.)

Now I had been thinking for quite some time about all the things I have sitting on shelves and ledges in our house. It has been in the back of my mind that I really need to secure everything so it doesn’t come crashing down. The experts have long been telling us it’s not a matter of if , it’s a matter of when THE BIG ONE is going to hit.

Well let me tell you there is nothing like a little temblor to get your attention and motivate you to get that done!

I like putting things (pictures, empty frames, artwork, wooden letters, etc) on shelves or ledges and leaning them against the wall. I love the casual feeling it gives to a space.

This is the shelf above my desk.

The K is a heavy wooden letter. The D is metal. And it is not light. Then there’s the picture. Any or all of them could come flying at me if the ground started shaking.

So I attached the K and the picture frame to the wall with Command velcro-style picture hangers. I placed the hangers at the very top of the pieces where they come into contact with the wall.

Then I used heavy duty double sided tape (industrial strength used for windows) to secure the bottom of the D to the shelf.

Now everything is secure. So will it hold in a 7.0 earthquake?

I think so.

But I have a feeling we’re going to have a lot more to worry about in a 7.0 than just initials falling off the shelves…

UPDATE:

At about 4:00 this morning we heard a crash. I got up and looked. And my letter D had toppled off the shelf and landed on the desk! So much for heavy-duty-industrial-strength-for-windows double sided tape!

So today we did this:

Mr. Redoux fashioned an L-bracket and attached it to the letter.

Then he screwed it to the shelf.

The shelf itself could fall off the wall. But that D? It’s not going anywhere!

UPDATE TO MY UPDATE:

We had another quake last night a little after 8:00. It was actually stronger than the first one on the fourth. 7.1 But again, over a hundred miles away from us so not really strong here. Everything stayed in place just fine. Yay!

I Felt The Earth Move Under My Feet....

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