Inktrails from Alaska

Earthquake Testing the New House

At 5:51AM today I was jolted awake by the house shaking, like a giant had run by and kicked the corner of my house. It's 5:59 right now. It was just a jiggle, lasted but a second, but long enough that I knew it wasn't a moose scraping himself on the side of the house. It was definitely a small earthquake.

Little Miss Sensitive, aka Sofia, just lay there on the floor looking sleepy and completely unconcerned, while I, on the other hand, jumped out of bed and grabbed the flashlight and began making sure I had all the needful stuff ready to grab if I felt I had to exit the house.Earthquake alert dog she is not!

The Geophysical Institute up at UAF recorded it as a 5.12, quickly followed by a 1.95 (which I didn't feel in the least). This is reassuring that the 5.12 was the "big" tremor, not a precursor to an even bigger shake. At least that's my reasoning. There is always the chance that a bigger one is on the way because earthquakes have their own logic,  one that we haven't figured out yet.

A few years ago the Interior had a 7.9 earthquake. Not one single person died, and the only injury that is known is a broken arm. Imagine what a 7.9 earthquake would have done to, for instance, Portland, Oregon? Despite the fact that so many homes are owner-built, or maybe because they are owner-built, our houses are earthquake-prepared.

I'm pleased with the way the new house performed in this episode. In fact, I think I might go back to bed now.

Adventures in Mooses 1

I'm going to number these, because there are bound to be more stories sooner or later.

Tonight I was upstairs watching TV and Sofia kept coming and telling me that there was SOMETHING I simply HAD to see. Then she'd grab a toy and lead me......under my computer desk downstairs.

Hunh?

She was hyperventilating and all wound up. I tried to play with her but she wouldn't have it. She did lead me to the front door, but we'd been out not an hour before, so I knew she didn't have to go. So I went back upstairs, thinking she'd eventually calm down or make it more clear what she meant.

She did run upstairs, bug me some more (which involves very quiet huffing and aaarrrroooo  rooooo noises, pouncing at me, grabbing me with her paws, wild head tosses and eye rolls towards where she wants me to go, and basically really funny body language...) but then went downstairs alone.

Twenty minutes later I called her and she didn't come. What the heck? I called several times. No Sofie. I went downstairs to see if she was hiding somewhere. She wasn't under the computer desk, nor under the kitchen table. Hunh.

I went back upstairs to look and just as I got there I heard a :::BOOOOIIIIINNNNNGGGG!::: from downstairs.

Wow, I thought, that sounds just like a door stopper!

I ran downstairs and looked at all the doors. The bathroom door is usually closed, but I opened it and there she was! She'd gone into the bathroom with her huge chew bone and shut the door behind her. Then she pawed the doorstop, LOL!

It didn't end there though, because she STILL was desperate to go outside. By now I was thinking, "Oh, maybe she is warning me about an earthquake." So I got my boots, hat, gloves and jacket on, put her harness on, and stepped outside with her.

I always scrutinize the snow leading to my little back yard carefully, because I don't want to get trapped in that small area with a large moose. I didn't see any tracks. Then I turned toward the entry way and saw a pile of moose poop RIGHT THERE that hadn't been there an hour ago!

Needless to say Sofia peed elsewhere and we made the trip a very quick one. I went out without Sofia to see if I could see the moose in the backyard. Thing is, there's a spot that is blocked by my water tank shed, and the moose could be behind there all bedded down, and we'd be right on top of her if we walked in there. I certainly wasn't going to walk in there and shine a light in her eyes, if she was there!

There's been a calf in the neighborhood for about a week.  We saw her a couple days ago in our yard, and several times next door and across the street. Mind you, this "calf" is the size of a quarter horse. Most moose will get up and chase and try to stomp dogs because to a moose anything canine reads as "wolf." And Sofia certainly looks that part. In fact, we've been chased by a moose before!

So that's it. We are lucky it wasn't more of an adventure. :o)