Reverend Ref +

5.6

No -- this isn't the average score received on my last sermon (although I have been kicking around the idea of giving scorecards to the parishioners so I can get that immediate feedback).

Rather the above number represents the magnitude of the earthquake that struck our area last night just after 10 pm. Not a large quake by any means, more like moderate according to the experts. However, the place rumbled quite a bit. I'm guessing the tremor lasted 10 - 15 seconds, the building was shaking, it was noisy, and The Kid was terrified.

But things settled down, there were no aftershocks, and, surprisingly, nothing in our house came off the walls. Neither were there any new cracks at either CC or St. P's, and everybody and everything seems to have survived intact.

I talked with two parishioners this morning. One of them said that it came from the "wrong" direction. The epicenter was NW of us, and he has been expecting a quake to originate in Yellowstone for some time now. The other parishioner slept through it all.

I suppose the next thing will be the eruption of the Yellowstone caldera. All in all though, I have no complaints about living in SW MT.