Family, Classes, and Earthquakes...

I spent last week in Northern VA and DC seeing friends and family and taking a class at GWU for my event certificate.  I had a great time catching up with friends and spending the evening out having drinks, reminiscing about college and projecting the future with friends who have now been around for a decade or more.  I also found time to see my Uncle, Aunt and cousins for a short time one evening and was glad to hear about what the girls were up to and how they are prepping for school and catch up with what was new in their family.  Then I got to see my grandmother for a few hours before heading home and show her photos of our house and the many projects we have been doing.  All in all it was a great visit.
I would now normally tell you how wonderful my class was (and it was) and how informative it was (and it was) and how I can't wait to do an internship in a non-profit (I am) to see my newly found knowledge put to work, but that was not my excitement of the week.  I got to experience the earthquake while in DC at GWU.  It was quite the experience actually, at first you could see the fear racing across peoples faces, assuming a terrorist attack had happened.  Quickly however, due to a couple of people who worked for the government at the pentagon, we were told it was just an earthquake.  It struck a cord with me however, the people that experienced the terror attacks first hand, the fear they live with every day just boiling under the surface.  I will say my metro ride back to Vienna, VA where I was staying was quite the opposite of my morning ride.  In the morning you can hear a bin drop, everyone in their shells and shying away from people and trying not to disturb the silence.  On my way back, not 30 minutes after the earthquake (for fear of them shutting down I jumped on right away) the metro cars were filled with people, laughter, talking and all to the stranger across the aisle or a group of people chatting in the center of the car.  It was amazing actually, people smiled and reassured people it was ok.  I wish it didn't take a terrorist attack or natural disaster to bring people together the way they do.
The east coast got a double whammy as you know with the earthquake and then the hurricane that came through, luckily my family fared pretty well with only very minor damage (some screens blown out in the screened in porch) and only lost power for a few hours.  The power loss not being far longer was amazing since they usually lose power when the wind blows the wrong way and its off for a long time.
This is the first year in 7 years that Brian and I have not had to deal with a hurricane heading straight for our house.  Mainly because instead of living a mere 20 minutes from the ocean, its now 5 hours.  I can't say its something I am missing going in to the this fall... I hope all are safe and sound and ok after both natural disasters this week.