This Week's Second Sign of the Apocalypse

In my previous post about a cougar sighting in my neighborhood on Monday, I concluded that it locked up story of the week honors and "I shudder to think what could possibly top it." Well, Mother Nature chimed in early Friday morning with her major shudder of an answer at around 4:37 am when a 5.2 magnitude earthquake sent a minor rumble through the city. Centered in the southern Illinois town of West Salem, the earthquake was relatively mild but nonetheless the strongest to hit the area since a 5.3 magnitude quake in 1968. It was enough to shake my light fixtures and wake me from slumber, which really isn't that hard to do as I am a very light sleeper to begin with.

So, for those scoring at home, this is a cougar sighting and an earthquake in the same WEEK. Were I living in southern California like my buddy Chris (aka "Our Man in LA" in the blogosphere) or northern California like my sister Elizabeth (aka Liz) this would be no big deal, but this kind of stuff just doesn't happen here in the midwestern city of Chicago. A tornado and a rat sighting, sure. Been there, done that. But this is just flat out weird and ominous and I am starting to feel a bit too much kinship with the Will Smith character in "I am Legend." Maybe it's time to revisit those bomb shelter plans.