Seismic Wobblings

All of us have probably experienced certain out-of-the-ordinary-ish things at one time or another in our lives. I described just such a thing back in November, for instance.
Well, just sitting here sipping this Starbucks coffee, I thought of another out-of-the-ordinary-ish thing that happened to me once.
I once felt an earthquake while I was leaning back in a chair that was balanced on its back two legs.
Seriously!
Exactly as this chair is, here in the picture, except I was sitting in it.
And then this earthquake happened.

I was in college at the time. In Peterborough, Ontario. [Canada]. The year was either 1988 or 1989.
I used to read a lot when I was in college (go figure)!
When we were assigned books of 500 or 600 pages to read, I actually READ them. Not like my roomate, who was pretty much... never in the room! I would sometimes read entire books, in research for an essay. And my favorite reading position was leaning back in my simple straightback chair. I would rest my knees lightly against the desk, my feet tucked into the little foot support on the chair. Then I would gently push outwards with my knees, until I found that perfect balance... literally I got to a place where I could balance on the back two legs of the chair without falling over.
One day I was all alone in my room, balancing away, and absorbed in a book.
Suddenly, the entire building seemed to move a bit, and I wobbled.
I actually doubted that it happened, but it was sort of undeniable, for it had knocked my equilibrium all askew and I fell forward in the chair, toward my desk. I just sat there then, in utter silence and wondered, “What the heck was that?”
I actually thought that something had exploded perhaps in the lower level of the dorm. Something powerful enough to shake the entire place. Also, as I tried to recall the moment at the time, I began to imagine that I had also heard a noise, like a rumbling, along with the shaking, but till today, I am still not sure about that. Not sure if there was an accompanying noise.
I went out for a walk on the campus grounds and asked a few people if they knew what it was all about. Had they experienced any wobbly chair activity? No one seemed to have a clue what I was talking about.
Even then, it had not really dawned on me that it had been a mild earthquake, because earthquakes just aren’t supposed to happen in that part of solid Ontario, and especially not in my dorm-room.
At any rate, unable to find any other Exploding Boiler-Room survivors, I returned to my room and read about ten more books while balancing in my chair.
And sure enough, the next morning in the cafeteria, it was the talk of the town. It was front page news.
WE HAD EXPERIENCED AN EARTHQUAKE.
The epicenter was quite a way from Peterborough, but nonetheless... I had felt it.
I was perhaps the only person for a hundred mile radius that DID feel it.... because I was (no doubt) the only person balancing themselves on the back two legs of a chair at the time!
So, of course, I ran around in the cafeteria telling everyone how I had happened to be balancing in my chair and how... and how.... like, when I was sitting there like that, the whole building, ummm... shook and...
[nothing but blank stares, similar to the kind that you have on your face right now, dear reader....]
No one has ever believed me. Not even my own family. Not even my cat.
But I swear to you, that it happened just as I am telling it here. Why would I make something like this up, huh? Why?
I even tried recently to research earthquakes that took place in Ontario at that time, but have not been able to find the pertinent information. I would just love to have a news clipping of that day... the front page of the Peterborough Examiner [once editored by none other than the legendary Robertson Davies] or the Toronto Star or whatever, because, I must admit, I do sometimes wonder about my own story.
Like, I KNOW it happened and all, but sometimes proof is nice to see.
Especially when, in other areas, one has been known to be occasionally delusional and/or a bit mentally ill at times!

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