Last Minute Moment - Friday 2/8/2008

Yeah, I was on my way to bed and realized I hadn't taken a photograph yet.

This is a detail from Marsh Birds by our friend, the artist Kate Hewett. If you live in an earthquake zone you'll understand the appeal of having a nice soft piece of artwork to hang over your bed. You can have one of your own. (Check out that link.)

Did I ever tell you about the Northridge Earthquake of '94? Well, the pertinent part of our story is that we had a full-sized poster from Casablanca hanging not over the bed, but over a desk next to the bed.


Like this one, only in a heavy frame and behind glass. A junk store find that came with us from Indiana, I think.

Anyway, when the quake hit our apartment building in Sherman Oaks, it hit hard. We both jumped out of our bed (mattress on the floor) and headed for the two doorways at the end of the bedroom. I fell down and scraped my knees pretty badly on the way. I had no sense of falling whatsoever. In the dark, I had an image of a trapdoor in the floor coming up and hitting me.

It was a good thing we both darted for safety... the big picture frame came off the wall, bounced on the desk and shattered right where our heads would have been. Gulp.

We got all the birds (Bogie, Ridley and Dodger--who wasn't even a year old yet) out into the hall and the most surreal thing happened. Things were still rocking and rolling when my mom called from vacationing with my aunt and uncle in South Carolina! They'd turned on the news as they were getting ready to go out for breakfast (7:30 or so there) and called to see if we were okay. Another big temblor hit while I was talking to them in the dark.

Well, there's a lot more to tell about that day and the days and weeks afterward, but my point was that if you live in an earthquake zone, you might want to seriously consider some cushy art if you want to hang anything over your bed!

I really must get another little camera. I didn't want to carry my Nikon D80 with me because I don't want to bang it around too much and I took the train in yesterday. It was a workday and we had our taxes done afterward, and then drove home via the Angeles Crest and Angeles Forest Highways. Missed getting a shot of the tallest buildings of downtown L.A. drowning in pastel pinks and blues.