This Was A Big Thing

On Friday night, I experienced my first earthquake.

The 5.7 magnitude earthquake struck at 11:07 pm on Friday, April 22. The epicenter was roughly 200 kilometers away from my home in Makarska, Croatia.

While sudden movements were happening within the Earth, I don’t think I moved an inch during the quake.

I was too busy trying to process what the heck was happening. This was a first for me.

As the Earth’s plates were shifting and causing my apartment to shake, I thought about three things.

First thought:

Lovely, who’s doing work outside at this hour?!

This wouldn’t surprise me.

Around 9 pm, in Makarska, I saw a man working outside a construction site one day. I was fascinated that he worked alone at 9 pm on a site. But there he was.

Second thought:

That’s not something happening outside my building. That’s something happening to my building! Joy, the builder didn’t do a great job. The building is settling. Here’s hoping it doesn’t sink. Great, I bought a money pit.

Of course, my mind had to take me to the money pit scenario at least once.

And finally, my third thought:

Ok, those first two don’t seem plausible. I think this might be an earthquake. Yup, this is an earthquake. Oh, an earthquake.

And that’s most of what went through my mind as I experienced my first earthquake.

As you can imagine, I did think about my mortality. But that came at the end, and I am still processing that piece.

This move, this chapter, this Adriatic Adventure, has been all about me taking note of the little things.

It has been an absolute joy and blessing to be able to take note of all those little things.

On Friday, an earthquake hit, and while it was a big thing, it reminded me to continue appreciating the little things.

Because that’s where joy lives, in the little things.