SETON SENIOR SEISMOLOGISTS
The following are some current Seton Seniors and some of their siblings initial thoughts when they felt the recent earthquake. Following each in italics are my initial thoughts about what they thought the earthquake was.
Denise Heisler: was at Bristow Run Elementary School, standing next to an outdoor air conditioning unit, and she thought something had gone wrong with it. This is interesting because Maryan Vander Woude was inside her Nokesville home and her first thought was also that something was wrong with their AC. I worry that if these two ever have AC troubles they may now sit paralyzed with fear thinking it is the longest lasting earthquake in history.
John Loth: was at the school student leadership conference. He saw things shaking and thought he was having a dizzy spell until James Mosiman said it was an earthquake. Which of these two has the greater leadership potential in the event of a natural disaster: John Loth, who will calmly sit down and wait out what he thinks is some temporary personal physiological problem, or James Mosiman, who will calmly announce what the calamity really is, terrifying everyone?
Mary Kate Rivenburg’s: parents who work in DC thought it was another 9-11 type attack. She was inside working at Old Navy but thought it was the wind. As the old saying goes: like parents, like daughter. Jihadist bombs and a good stiff wind are like two peas in a pod. Also, Mary Kate, you might have had “hurricane” on the brain with Irene on the way. Could it happen that terrorists will target Old Navy mistaking it for a military outpost?
Pat Hilleary: was trimming hedges and didn't notice anything. Either Pat has an amazing ability to concentrate on the task at hand and block out even earth shaking disturbances, or his electric shears are due for their 30,000 mile tune up. We might call his garden tool a “ hedge tremor”.
Abby Purnell: thought it was her manager shaking the bar at Foster's Grill. The real question here is whether the customers wanted to supersize their fries to go with the big shake each was enjoying.
Rebecca Germain’s: little sister thought it was a terrorist attack. We obviously need to bring back the duck and cover drills of the 50’s – appropriate for both acts of terrorism and acts of God.
Tom Horiuchi: was working on a farm just 30 miles from the epicenter. His friend said "Run". Tom said, "Where?" Tom’s very logical one word question asking for location, maybe should have been less logical and asked about manner. “How?” could easily have been answered with “Amok”. We know what kind of grain was being grown on the farm 30 miles from the epicenter: Quake-r-Oats.
Mary Duran: thought it was their washing machine. Similarly to the Hilleary’s hedge clippers, the Duran wash machine might be due for some new bearings. It’d be a shame to miss the drama of the next earthquake, passing it off as something so mundane as the spin cycle.
Mark LaVigne: thought his mom was mad at his little sister and was shaking a desk. Interesting discipline at the LaVigne homestead. Why is Mrs. LaVigne shaking a desk? Of course, her daughter is writing on the wall with permanent markers.
Matt Loth: thought it was his little sister jumping on the bed. His little sister said it was a tornado. Now did little sister Loth say it was a tornado while jumping on a bed? Either way, whenever the little Loth does jump on a bed she must get some serious hang time to create the equivalent sensation of a 5.7 earthquake when she lands. I might suggest getting her a sleep number bed which must have better shock absorbers than a spring mattress.
Kate Dobak’s: sister Elizabeth was in the bathroom putting on makeup and when she felt the shaking she said, "Someone is in here!" One question comes to mind: Where would the unknown person have been? I’d say go all natural from now on because it seems kind of creepy thinking someone might be watching you put on eye liner each morning.
Brian Kelly: was trying to turn on a hose and thought it was water pipes exploding underground. What Mrs. O’Leary’s cow was to Chicago, Brian Kelly was almost to Manassas. One little kick of a lantern; one little turn of a spigot…
Phil Wykowski: thought it was Quantico weapons practice. I think Phil has a career in the military. Col. Jones also first thought the earthquake was the detonating of munitions at the Marine Base. Semper Fi = unshakable faith.
Joe Moschetto: thought it was a cat under the table. Joe, do you mean like a lion or a tiger? Otherwise I’d say reduce the Little Friskies ration you’re giving your kitty.
Chris Baker: was discussing the movie Signs and for a split second thought it was aliens. We should be careful what we say – we never know what extraterrestrial might be listening. I try to say only good things about the Martians I know personally.
Thomas Aveni: thought it was his little sisters and brothers banging on the walls and he kept telling them to shut up. This is a wake up call to all of us to make better use of our elemental experiences. Also, Thomas, if your younger siblings do bang on the wall, you might try saying something like “Please quit that because you are making it difficult to appreciate the earthquake” which makes more sense than “Shut up!” and sounds a little more like the loving big brother that you are.
The first report of the earthquake I had was from Mrs. Carroll who said that some of the trophies at Seton were shaken from their shelves, fell to the ground and broke. I immediately asked about the condition of the dance trophy. Mrs. Carroll replied, “It survived!”
Jezu, ufam Tobie.