Early Morning Tremblor

Charlie is still uncomfortably in the throws of this dermatitis. We got in a couple of nights of not taking him outside during the night. Instead, I was able to calm him down so we could all fall asleep again. But now we're back to getting up with him a time or two each night. I think the cold, and especially the rolling on the cold snow, helps with the itching.

But last night (or should I say "a couple of hours ago"), he became restless and got us up to take him out at 4 A.M. Andy, bless him, did the honors so I was still in bed but wide awake when there was a rumbling and the whole house shook. It made me nervous that the two of them were outside because it was similar to the sensation when a large amount of snow (we got just about one foot of new snow yesterday and into last night) slides off the aluminum roof of the cottage...but not quite. I came downstairs to meet them at the door and Andy thought it was snow coming off the other side of the cottage.

I dried Charlie off and took him into Emily's bed, his usual early morning haunt, and asked her what she felt or heard. Nothing.

We went back to bed (couldn't sleep though) for the next hour but promptly when we got up at 5AM, I checked the local news. Yes, an earthquake occurred just about 35 miles southeast of us in Sycamore, IL! 4.3 on the Richter scale! Felt as far away as Indiana and Kentucky!

I've heard that dogs have a sense of impending storms and seek shelter before they hit. Do you suppose that could have been Charlie's excuse for restlessness this morning and it wasn't the dermatitis after all? I'm hoping.

Update: The U.S. Geological Survey has downgraded the earthquake to 3.8 but determined that the epicenter was actually the village of Gilberts, IL which is about 10 miles due south of Crystal Lake, IL.