THE FIVE A.M. EARTHQUAKE WAKE UP CALL: Good Morning from Guatemala, America Central!

Garden at the Foot of the Volcano, 4´x 4´ , painted on stretched panel

Good Morning friends and visitors,

This morning I had a roller coaster ride and it didn't leave my bed.  It was a 7.1 Earthquake that presented itself up near the Mexican border (150+ miles Norte).  Dogs barking, we have four, birds chirping and flapping and Gold Fish acquariams splashing.  I have an adjoining bathroom to my bedroom (on the second floor) and I always dash in there because it feels safer, is over the laundry area downstairs and only has small windows at the top of one wall...I met Juan Carlos there.  Juan Carlos said DID YOU FEEL IT (the bathroom has a door that opens to the second floor corridor too)? YES, I felt it as it was probably the longest/strongest terramoto/tremblor that we have had in a very long time. 

Somehow I am not very afraid when the ¨shake ups¨ happen.  I don't know if it is because I grew up in Los Angeles, went to college in the San Francisco Bay Area or experienced big ones in Mexico D.F...it's just that I don't become terrorized, I seem to go with the flow as I wait for them to stop...grabbing on to walls as one does on a boat. Juan Carlos doesn't seem afraid either as he laughs about being tossed out of bed...DID I FEEL IT, yes, Juan Carlos, I DID!

All is well.  Above please note my painting ¨Garden at the Foot of the Volcano¨  just to reassure you that the sun is shining, the birds are back to full-fledged chirping, the doggers have had breakfast and we have had our morning coffee...the blossoms are opening and our garden continues to grow.  I love life, thanks for checking on us.

Leonardo Ricardo
San Miguel Dueñas
Sacatepequez, Guatemala
Central America