Sooner or later, everyone goes to the zoo.

Thursday, October 2, 2008

Cats and dogs living together

Living in San Francisco messes with my head because this is land that shakes. Sometimes a lot. And everyone seems to agree that some big shaking is due in relatively short order.

"There could be an earthquake right now," says a voice in my head at least 27 times a day. And it's true.

Or now.


Or now.







OR RIGHT NOW!!!!

See, that's the thing: you just don't know.

On the one hand, I love it when I can just add a fear to the list of things I can't control because that means, by definition, that there is absolutely nothing I can do about it, so there's no use worrying. Which is freeing. For example, I don't worry about being in a plane crash. I'm not saying I'd sign up for one, but other than not flying there is literally nothing I can do to really protect myself from that. Blissful irresponsibility is mine.

And yet, something about earthquakes has me hideously fascinated.

I've heard people with a fear of heights say that it isn't just a fear of falling but a fear of suddenly feeling compelled to jump. I think that's how I feel about earthquakes: I secretly want one to happen. I'm obsessed with what it would feel like to have the whole earth move beneath your feet.

Of course when I really think about it, I know that I don't really want San Francisco to crumble into the Pacific ocean. Mass hysteria is not my thing. Nonetheless, that fear/fascination suckerpunch keeps me thinking about it.

It doesn't really matter what I want or not, of course, since there absolutely nothing I can do about it.
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