It was a Rough Night

“Some say, the earth was feverish and did shake” (Macbeth II.3)

It was a rough night. Aye. Last night, I was lying in my comfy bed reading when the bed began to move as if several people were holding it, and shaking it. My first reaction was to get out of the bed and stare at it. (I can hear you laughing, Tara.) But, my immediate thought was of paranormal activity. I kid you not.

The last couple of days I’ve been thinking about the people who lived and died in this cove. Maquinna’s people decapitated twenty-five sailors and placed their heads on sticks around the cove, in retaliation for prior injury done to his people. What happened to their bodies? Do their bones lie crusted with algae and kelp beneath the waves, or did they burn with the ship? And then, there are countless Mowachaht/Muchalaht people, who died here over the millennia due to various reasons, and suffered through diseases like smallpox. And the sailors and fishermen whose boats have capsized and sunk beneath the waves.

And so, my first thought was of spirits. 

Then, I heard a voice mention earthquake. A real voice. On the radio. According to this morning’s Victoria Times Colonist, I had just experienced a 6.7 magnitude earthquake. I don’t know the accuracy of this map, but that red circle is just northwest of us. We are in the cove just above the 7.

My bed-shaker was not supernatural. She was natural.

As the night wore on, the wind roared and rain pelted the windows. I laid in my comfy bed, in my comfy house, which is perched on the edge of a rock, and did not sleep.  Two vessels had taken refuge in our snug harbour for the night, and I began to wonder what it must be like to try to sleep through this raging rain in your boat. Until, at last, I dozed.

In the early hours, I awoke to an eerie calm quiet. Nature, here, is a very real, vibrant force. This week, as we celebrate Earth Day, remember she is very much alive all the time: Mother Earth, Gaia, Isis, Danu. From time to time, she rocks us in her arms to remind us.