On the road again. . Hip, hip hooray!

Inertia has taken over my partner of 44 years, but I'm in Michigan with my friend, Tracy. We had a great evening at the home of the Prewetts. S'mores, pumpkin pie, birds, girls, games, and bugs. How good can it get?!?

We were talking earthquakes and so I took us to the USGS site. Didn't realize we've had 14 earthquakes since Tuesday less than 23 miles from our house. http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/recenteqsus/Maps/US2/37.39.-79.-77_eqs.php Brrrr. Giving me the willies again.

Identified the screech owl call we heard outside. And the caterpillar one of the girls found. Time for bed. . nine hours and two countries today. Nighty, night.

Be still my beating heart..

"Be still my beating heart.. " No, not the sight of my beloved husband, but the violent shaking of our home set off the wild beating! At 1:51 today, a 5.9 earthquake happened with the epicenter shallow and 23 miles from us. It was really disconcerting. Cell phones are down to allow for emergency responder traffic, the local 911 is jammed, but the land lines and power seem to be fine. In fact, after checking on the neighbors and lake level, I called Mom and she wondered why her computer was shaking earlier. She's fine. But she and my neighbor had a first time experience after 87 years. Poor Dotty was really shook. And already, the normal neighborhood noises have returned. John has experienced an earthquake before in Japan and remained the calmest of us all, but we were all gathered outside.

Paul called us. . .Kaylene had felt it. . and when she saw where it was let him know that we were close to the epicenter. And, the TV news has suddenly switched from the fall of Tripoli and Mohmar Ghaddafi to a more local story. Our dams seem to be okay (whew!!) and it appears that the nuclear power plants less than 20 miles from the epicenter are okay too. . . double whew! The reactors shut down automatically.

http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/recenteqsww/Quakes/usc0005ild.php Info on the earthquake

Oh, and by the way, a hurricane is on the way. It's been a VERY interesting couple of months.

PS I no sooner wrote this when we had a small aftershock!!!

WALKING THE TIGHTROPE

When I was a little kid, I remember going to the circus. I was fascinated by the trapeze artist and the high wire act. The beautiful men and women in their spangled costumes would balance carefully across the shiny wire, bouncing on occasion and always nearly falling at some point to the oohs and aaahs of the audience. And soaring high overhead, with an ugly net below, would float the trapeze artists, barely hanging by their heels and catching each other after high flying somersaults. They were wonderful.

And as of my birthday last Thursday, I have become one of those high wire walkers. At the Lake Monticello Board of Directors’ meeting I was appointed to fill out the unfinished two year term of a board member who resigned just before the election. As God would have it, the meeting was on my 64^th birthday. There were some nice things said about me by the current board and I got winks from several of them as they voted. And the audience, including the broadcast crew, broke into applause.

What does that have to do with walking the high wire? Well, as a Board member, I have to remember constantly that I am only one of seven votes and that the Board sets policy, it should not micromanage. And also, I have to be very careful not to tell staff members what to do because even though I have a vote on approved budget and staffing numbers, I am not their boss. . the General Manager is their boss. As always, I need very much to remember that Lake Monticello is a small town. . one needs to be very careful to only say nice things. And I also should be very careful not to appear snooty, or changed, or less than honest because there is now a bigger microscope on what I do and say. And not that I even use hair curlers, I need to be more careful of my appearance in public my visibility has increased.

One disappointment is that as a Board member, I can no longer vote on the committee I’ve chaired for the past seven years. The good news is that we should have a full slate by the next meeting. The bad news is that even though the wonderful guys on my committee work very hard, they don’t know many of the things I’ve taken care of behind the scenes. I confess to worrying just a little. The good news is that I can attend some or all of the meetings even though I can’t vote. The bad news is that I may not be able to help homeowners with drainage problems as I have in the past. That is pending the lawyer’s opinion. . . I think.

I have to remember who I am in the Lord, and who I am NOT. It is sad, but sometimes folks act like they are more important after achieving a public office. I’ve had several people say to me, “Don’t change the way you are.” And that is indeed a tough job.

So pardon me while I pick up my balancing beam. I need to work on some budget items.