I blamed my girlfriend for a seismic event

It was Sunday morning and my girlfriend and I were eating breakfast on the couch.

“Could you stop shaking the couch?” I asked. You see, my girlfriend has a bit of the Jimmy Legs where she twitches her leg. Most of the time it doesn’t bother me, but sometimes, she gets the Jimmy Legs so bad that I feel like I’m sitting on one of those vibrating massage chairs.

“I’m not doing anything,” she insisted.

I looked over and it didn’t appear her legs were moving. But, she also had a blanket on her lap so I really couldn’t tell. I was unconvinced.

“Are you sure?”

Now, she was getting a tiny bit annoyed. “Of course I’m sure.”

Then, the couch started shaking again. “Don’t you feel that?” I asked.

“Yeah.”

“Maybe someone is moving furniture,” I said.

“Construction?” she offered.

A couple minutes later my Facebook feed was filled with news stories of an earthquake about 200 miles to the north. I showed her my phone. “It was an earthquake.”

“So, it wasn’t me after all?”

Now I have to figure out how to blame the next hurricane on her.

+++

My Foodie Travel Guide to Christchurch, New Zealand talks about the severe earthquakes that damaged that city. I’ll also written about the devastating earthquakes in Lisbon and Napier.

About the Author

Brent Petersen is the Editor-in-Chief of Destination Eat Drink. He currently resides in Setubal, Portugal. Brent has written the novel “Truffle Hunt” (Eckhartz Press) and the short story collection “That Bird.” He’s also written dozens of foodie travel guides to cities around the world on Destination Eat Drink, including in-depth eating and drinking guides to Lisbon, Porto, Sintra, Monsaraz, and Evora in Portugal. Brent’s podcast, also called Destination Eat Drink, is available on all major podcasting platforms and is distributed by the Radio Misfits Podcast Network.