The Saturday Review

Over the hill, on the other side of the mountain, I'm now twenty miles closer to Yountville and perhaps 50% more likely to feel the next quake that arrives from there. Does this sound weird? Well, that's a point of view some might take, but when you like to chase earthquakes, a casual drive to The Valley of The Moon for work each day, puts me, just a step closer to enjoying that "rock and roll" feeling.

I forgot to mention something strange about our last trip to Parkfield. The room I was assigned, "The Tool Room" is probably the least safe place in the Inn. The bathroom you see has a roof on top of it that sits inside the room. But on top of this space is part of a tractor. While it might seem secure to some, believe you me, I didn't sleep very well with the thought of a quake bringing that disc plower down on me. On the walls of the room they had installed several tools, of which one of them was a pitch fork. Last but not least, above the sink attached to the ceiling were some very heavy duty hand tools attached to a metal rod. Can you just imagine the sound that would produce during a quake? I'd be outta there in a heartbeat, if the equipment didn't get to me first. Honestly, I changed rooms the next day. I'm not sleeping in there again, not that I got much sleep there anyway. I am into eclectic decorating, but tractor parts and wrenches, hammers and pitch forks are not my thing, in earthquake country. I may not be the smartest woman, but in the world of earthquake safety, surely not the stupidist. LOL

This week, dogs were in the news in a big way. I was talking to an attorney the other day who knows a bit about dog training and he said, Don shouldn't have looked that vicious dog in the eye as it is a term of a challenge. He suggested we get some pepper spray before we head out to the Garden of Stone again. Good idea, though we like Parkfield, the sense of eternal rest is not what we currently have in mind.

What we really need is a volunteer who has the uncanny knack of having earthquakes or other odd disasters go with them wherever they go, then it would be a shoe in for the quake experience the next time we go. Anyone qualifed willing?

This morning I now have proof positive that Don snores. There is about 30 feet distance between the top of the stairs and his bedroom. As I was the first one up today, I thought I'd bring him some coffee as he usually brings me some, so I got the coffee and a rolled up newspaper and as I approached the upper staircase I thought I heard the sound of distant thunder and realized as I got closer to Don's room, which had the door closed, it was only his snoring. I hit him with the newspaper and told him his coffee was ready and mentioned his thunder-like snore, but, as usual, he denied it. Says I have no proof, so it can't be. I wish I knew where to find my tape recorder. With the recorder he could hear the snores and the sound of getting whacked with the newspaper and then he couldn't say it was the sound of someone else snoring. You gotta be crafty in order to get absolute proof of snoring! Everyone denies it. You should have seen him when I hit him with the newspaper. I can't even explain it.

But the best part of this week has been the prediction contest. God I love contests. You say the word and I'm there. First in line, with that I just gotta win enthusiasm thing going. I guess that means I'm competitive. That's probably not to bad, it beats being called assertive. While Don has been doing his thing, being the best forecaster in recorded history on Earthwaves, I hope just this one time, I can ace him out. Or if not me, Go For It Cathryn! It will provide much food for fodder later.

For The Saturday Review

Petra Challus With Don Eck
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