Grandpa For President???

Museum Shake-Up!

Hey all!

So, as many of you I'm sure have already heard, there was a wee little earthquake out here in Los Angeles a few days ago. It is something I have experienced a few times before, but to Anne and Ryan that were visiting it sure was another story! It was Tuesday morning and we had a fun, culture filled day planned at the Getty Museum (which in my 8+ yrs of living here had never actually been to!). After the short ride from my apartment, we got into line and were soon scaling our way up the hillside in the trolley. The views were great...from what they said....I didn't look down!!! once we arrive, Ryan and I proceed to get hot dogs and pop for breakfast :) (well, I got a coffee too...) So far the museum was GREAT! after our dogs we looked at our maps to decide what to see first. Those map reading classes we had all taken hadn't really sunk in yet, so we had to go to the 'YOU ARE HERE' kinda map for a little guidance. As we are looking at the map, (now this is why I think Anne may have actually caused the earthquake) Anne touches the map and says 'here we are...let's go there' and as the map started to shake, literally right then I leaned back and said 'whoa I just got dizzy!' It felt as though the tiles under me had actually shifted. Ryan and Anne both replied, 'so did I!'  See, now I had had a bit of wine the night before and thought maybe it was just a dizzy hangover spell...but they had felt it too, so maybe not? Not thinking too much of it, we carried on with our day. Ryan then gets a call from his brother Rob, who also lives in Los Angeles, and confirmed that it was indeed an earthquake! A 5.4 just miles from where we were. That's when the calls and text messages started. We try to call Alice, but all the networks are down. Shortly after that, I get a flood (pun intended) of messages asking if everyone was alright. Once we got back to my place, I first cleaned up all the damage that had occurred in my apartment alone, I then heard the many stories of 'who was where' and 'who felt what.'

 

A local mall...

...& grocery store

These kinds of events always get me thinking how lucky we all are. When we were up on that hill and felt that little jolt, there were people all over the city, close friends, family, strangers, that felt it a lot worse than us. To us it was a neat little shake, but to so many people it was a really scary 20 seconds and may have caused irreparable damage to others. It's one of those moments where even complete strangers can feel a small connection and can bring whole communities together like nothing else can. I'm glad I was with loved ones and I'm glad they did get to experience a little piece of my world if only for just a few seconds :)

I have included a few photos of the Getty below (Anne and Ryan have better ones). If any of you get a chance to see any of the exhibits down here at the Getty please do! You wont regret it. Oh and don't forget I live pretty close if you wanna come pick me up on the way (wink wink).

Love and miss you all!!

Jenny

THE GETTY!!

Ryan's Favorite...

from the gardens...