Quaking in our boots

Okay, that's a weak pun, I know it. Actually we weren't even wearing boots at all.

But how amazing that it's true! When it happened last night I thought that's what it felt like, and just now I heard it confirmed on the radio news.

Last night around 9pm the Amateur Actress and I were out leading wildly exciting lives as one should on a Friday evening, oh,um ... I mean, we were at home watching a dvd (me) and surfing the interweb (her) ... when something really shook us up.

It didn't last long, just a few seconds - maybe 10 or 15 - but we both felt it and stopped what we were doing and looked at each other. All the pussins sat up and stared.

T: What was that?
AA: Um ... I've no idea. What was that?
T: It felt like the house was shaking.
AA: Was it something jumping onto the verandah?
T: It sounded like that, didn't it? But what on earth could it have been?
AA: (pause, while thinking) ..... a really big possum?

We both went tentatively out the back door and looked around, but couldn't see anything. All the possums were chittering noisily though, like they'd been disturbed. And the thing, whatever it was, sounded REALLY heavy.

As two women at home on our own, I don't hesitate to say that we were slightly concerned about the potential options (super-sized possum on the rampage, giant hailstones falling from a clear sky, dead body pushed out of plane, aliens a la the movie Signs, possible home invader, that sort of thing).

The Amateur Actress even went out the front to check, but there was nothing to be seen.

It didn't happen again, so I only thought briefly about it when I went to bed.

And then I woke up and found out it was an earthquake measuring 4.7 on the Richter scale! An earthquake! Centred in Gippsland! And we felt it here in little old Northcote! How amazing.

It's my first one ever. I'm very proud.