And The Earth Did Roar

And she powerfully shook the complacency of its inhabitants .

As a native Californian the phenomenon of earthquakes is certainly not new to me .  I can recall as early as childhood listening to my mother talk about earthquakes .  I wish I could remember the details but all I can recall is about fireplace bricks falling across a doorway exit .  After doing a little research it looks like the year may have been 1933 in March with magnitude of 6 .4 .  My oldest brother would have been one year old and they lived in the Los Angeles area .  And, this would have been about five years after she came from Minnesota to California .

This subject certainly brings memories of my own life experiences  with earthquakes .  My first recollection of any earthquake was in 1971 (6AM) San Fernando Valley-Sylmar earthquake of 6 .5 magnitude.  At the time, I was living in San Gabriel Valley which is about 30 miles from the quake site.  It had been less than 2 years since I became a single parent and I was working as a Registered Nurse at a local hospital .  The quake awakened us and it was a very frightening experience for the three of us .  My children's father never had much involvement after leaving , so we were on our own.  After getting the children settled with child care I went to work - of coarse !  I don't think we had much damage at the house other than the typical items falling off shelves .

Going to work was a new set of experiences . I worked on the surgical third floor . There were wide open cracks in the floors . All elective surgeries were cancelled .  Patients were discharged if possible.  Obviously , patients looked to staff for reassurance !!!  The aftershocks persisted for days and were very unnerving .

The year 1989 brought us the Loma Prieta earthquake with a magnitude of 6 .9 .   The Quake site was near Santa Cruz and I was living in San Jose and had not been home from work very long when the earth shook at 5.04 PM .  I recall putting my precious pets  (Pixie, a Yorkie and Puff, a cat) in their crates and taking them out to the front sidewalk of the house where neighbors were gathering . This earthquake was far reaching and very catastrophic to many regions .  San Francisco freeway system was horrendously effected.

At the time I was working as a Rehabilitation Nurse Specialist which meant that I was a liaison between a Sick/Injured Individual and the Responsible Payer of expenses .  Kind of like "helping the Right hand to know what the Left hand is doing" .   A rather  simplistic explanation ! 😃

What does this have to do with anything ?  It just so happened that in my workplace I was referred a case of an earthquake victim that was dealing with Post Trauma Stress Disorder . Interesting , his case was reported in the Reader's Digest (remember the Digest) in August 1990 .  I am not sure of the date that I received the referral .  He was a very impressive person as well as his story !!!  It was a pleasure to work with him .

(click image to enlarge)

The Digest article has many stories of the 1989 earthquake experiences that were catastrophic life altering tragedies .

WOW , that took me down memory lane .

My Best Thoughts and Desires are with everyone who has or is impacted by the recent earthquake events .

Mary

Do You Hear That Buzz

Well, it has started around here. The Big Game - Super Bowl is about to happen. Even though California is not a contestant in the game this year, it's a big highlight for San Francisco and San Jose to be hosting.

All of the TV/Internet coverage about the event brings back so many memories I have from the 20 years that I lived in that part of the state of California. It really is a beautiful area with so many wonderful things to do and see as a tourist. Even with the traffic issues it is well worth the effort. San Francisco is a fabulous city to play in! I was fortunate to spend quite a lot of time in the City at the lovely historic hotel dining rooms and "Night Spots". The lounges were usually on the top floor of the tall hotel buildings. Watching the fog roll in over the City or Bridge was a lovely sight. Live theater was always enjoyable. The whole area has so many pleasures to enjoy. There was a time when I thought I would like to live there. That was many years ago when it was a lot safer. I guess that applies to everywhere we go these days.

San Jose was the area where my children and I lived during a lot of their childhood. When my daughter became 19 years old we went into the city and I gave her a Spa Day at Elizabeth Arden Beauty Salon (facial, perm, massage, pedi/manicure and of course lots of pampering) as her gift. At that time, that was "a big deal". Of course, now the spa experience is  a lot easier to arrange.

In addition to "playing in the City", during the late 80's, my work as a Disability Medical Case Manager RN took me to the City for Medical Conferences at various hospitals and medical offices which helped with coordination of the health care and benefits for the disabled patients/clients.

Well, I could go on and on but I won't. It always amazes me with the words/topics that jump onto the computer screen when I start to write a post. Especially if I don't have a lot swirling around in my head about the topic I start with. Does that ever happen to you?

While I have been writing this I have been watching the TV special of the past years Super Bowl Half-Time Ceremonies. At this moment Bruce Springsteen is performing. Talk about memories!

Oh, and the weather for the Game is suppose to be in the 70's. I heard that it is the best weather for the weekend since Thanksgiving. How wonderful!

Hope you have a great weekend.

Mary

2016

I am feeling very optimistic about entering a New Year. It is such a good feeling to know that I will be beginning with my heart and head in a very good place. I feel open to new adventures, experiences, opportunities and friends.

I enjoyed watching the New Years Day Rose Parade this morning on TV. It always brings memories of my youth. Growing up in California near Pasadena made it  possible for me (with a youth church group) to be able to work on the parade floats. The Lutheran Laymen's League float is the longest running (and currently the only) religious float in the Tournament of Roses parade, appearing since 1951.

This year they continued the tradition by sponsoring a float called "Jesus Is The Light of the World". This years builder was Phoenix Decorating Co. Volunteers are still working on the floats along with the professionals. The volunteers are now part of an organization called "Petal Pushers". They work on other floats, as well and they come from all over the states. My volunteering was between 1953 and 1957. Yes, LOOOOOOOONG time ago!

Last year in 2015, the Lutheran's sponsored the only Christian-themed entry among 37 floats. It featured an open Bible with depictions of the Nativity, Moses, Noah's ark and the Baptism of Jesus. Frequently the Lutheran's float wins an award. And, last year they won the PRINCESSES Award which is the Most Beautiful Float 35 feet and under.

In addition, last year, Temple City High School Band (the high school I graduated from) was chosen to march in the parade. The performing bands are selected from all over the world for just 12 openings. When I attended the school it was a new high school and I was in the first graduating class.

Another memory, when I was in Nurses Training, one of my roommates was in the competition for Rose Queen in 1958 of the Tournament of Roses. She was beautiful and competed in many rounds of the competition. She previously had been Queen of a small desert town in Southern California.

NOW, just a little food prep today because at the holiday many foods are available in the super market that are not available routinely. In the past I have enjoyed baked ham that I get at holidays. So anyway, I bought a ham to prepare a nice meal for myself as well as packaging some in portions for the freezer to use in day to day cooking.

               I hope it will be as satisfactory as the                                 hams in the past.

Wishing everyone a Very Happy New Year.

Mary