Sleep! Sleep! Wherefore art thou?

Last night, I didn't go to bed.

Okay, so some of you will be shocked by someone not going to bed at night.  Please, don't be.  I find writing at night to be free of telephone interruptions and unnecessary conversations.  Everything is quiet, the world is at rest, and my mind can wander where it needs to in the realm of my strange journeys into the unknown.  In other words, I can continue on my book without having to say, "Yes, dear."

My wife arose early to get to her opening shift at the pharmacy.  I needed a break anyway, so we conversed politely and discussed the Indiana University basketball game Friday night, and the day's upcoming football offerings.  Yes, my wife has developed into more of a sports fan than I ever have been.  I'll watch my I.U. games in basketball and football, but that's about it.  She watches those, as well as her favorite, Alabama, also in the same sports.  Plus, she enjoys watching the University of Kentucky play, hopefully, just to see them lose.  (And, you all think I'm the sadistic one!)

So, she leaves for work and after a couple of hours, I hit the hay around 9 a.m.

At 12 noon, the phone rings!  Of course, by the time I reach for it, the other party had already hung up.  I check and find they've left no messages.  Okay, let me turn over and get back to sleep.

I believe I'd just drifted off when all hell broke loose!

Suddenly, the house starts shaking!  No, not just a little bit.  I'm talking walls moving and pictures falling.  The roof was pounding like someone was running on it, aluminum storm doors rattled as if they were being physically shaken, and a case of cd's slid off their perch and hit the floor!  This continued for about 15 seconds, and then silence.

Of course, I got up to check things out.  We've just had the privilege of acquiring new neighbors, and my first thoughts were "Meth Lab explosion!"

I ran into the living room to see my two cats sitting with their ears in the "alert mode" and saying, "Hey Rich, what the hell's going on!"  

Telling them I'd be right back I ran out the door and spied my neighbor's house sitting as normal.  In fact, the entire neighborhood was the same as I'd left it three hours prior.  (No, no one had built a high rise since I'd been sleeping!)  

After checking the news on the web (and answering a few comments on the hubs and blogs), and finding nothing, and talking to one of my other neighbors for a few minutes (only to prove I hadn't lost it as many would expect), I decided to go back to bed.

Ring! Ring!  (That's written sound effects for a telephone.)

It was my grandson telling me my daughter and her family had arrived back in South Alabama to live, again.  They travel the U.S. for different jobs and never find one that will suit them.  (I think that's my daughter's way of saying, "We got run out of town again, Dad!")  (Just joking.)

I end the conversation and think, "Now, I can get some sleep!"

That's when I hear the truck.  There is a truck backing into my yard, right by my bedroom window!  "You gotta be kidding me!"  Nope, I'm ready to say the hell with it, and this motor that sounds like an electrical generator starts up.  That does it!

I get up, walk to the living room, and find the cats sitting with their ears in the alert position again!  "What's going on, Rich?  What's that noise?  Tell us, please tell us!"   I again confirmed I'd let them know when I got back inside.

As I walk out my door, there's this individual revving up the motor in the back of a trailer, between my house and my new neighbors.  At first, he smiles.  Then, he see's I'm not smiling.  I almost believe I saw fear in his eyes.

"Do you just back into a person's yard and start disturbing the owners without even knocking?" I asked, almost calmly, but not quite.

Turns out, he's only going to be about a half hour as he installs a fence separating their back yard from mine.  "Good!  That way I won't have to look at them!"

Ten minutes later, my wife comes home.  Instantly, she's filled in on the day's activities.  Having questions I couldn't answer, I go back to the web and find this:

4.3 Magnitude Earthquake Hits Kentucky

"A 4.3-magnitude earthquake struck eight miles west of Whitesburg, Ky., early Saturday afternoon, the U.S. Geological Survey reported.

The epicenter of the shallow, light earthquake was 0.7 miles deep under the Appalachian Mountains town of Blackey, near the Virginia border, the agency said.

There were no immediate reports of damage in the eastern Kentucky area."

When we had kids in the house, we kid proofed the house the best we could.  When we lived in Alabama, we hurricane proofed the house the best we could.  When we moved to Kentucky, we tornado proofed the house the best we could.

Now, all I have to do is figure out how to Earthquake proof it!

Aw, the hell with it!  The world's ending next month anyway!

I'm going to bed and get some sleep so I don't miss it!