In 2009 we moved down here just in time for the biggest Virginia snowstorm before Christmas since 1936, and today we experienced the biggest Virginia earthquake since 1897!  While rating a respectable 5.8 on the Richter scale, the experience at our home in Nelson County was memorable but modest.  We were standing on our back deck on a lovely summer day when the deck began to shake and a strange noise which Monika aptly describes as an off-balance washing machine emanated from the house.  We went inside and could feel the whole thing trembling, then went to the kennel building in the back, where the glasses vases on the counter were shaking sufficiently to clink musically against each other.  The chickens disappeared from sight—presumably to the security of the hen house.  It was all over within two minutes or so.  We were about 75 miles from the quake’s epicenter in Mineral, Virginia.  We went back to enjoying an absolutely beautiful day.


Garden views front and back on an otherwise lovely day