Shake, Rattle, and Roll

On the news that Puerto Rico has (and continues) suffer from a series of stubborn earthquakes, I immediately thought of Mami. Oh, she is safe. She moved up to my sister's in Ohio. And she doesn't live in the "quake zone." But I could just imagine the reactions.

I think she would be most concerned about her wine. During the big one on 1/6/20, she would utter something like "The bitch made me spill my wine."

And during the remaining ones she would be drinking them all to save them from the aftershocks. "Mijo, I may need to buy boxed wine. But the box is so heavy that it hurts my wrist and I have to take two relaxers."

I could also imagine her wrapping up all the bottles in the monogrammed towels she kept pristine from her wedding day in the late 60s. Don't worry they are still beyond fluffy because she never let anyone use them. "They are for guests. But not every day guests. One set for me and one set for your father, may he rest in peace"

You may think this is mean. "Your poor mom. People down there are very scared."

And, you, mystery reader are right. Except for poor mom. We got poor mom out of there because there was nothing left for her in PR. People back home often paint anywhere but PR as a savage land. My dear grandmother was amazed to learn we had hot water in college in NY. She assumed it was impossible in the winter and that people bathed themselves with "a sort of warm rock." But considering most other places, including sleepy Ohio (Which based on recent moves from Columbus I know dub Mississippi On The Lake), don't have random power outages, earthquakes, and hurricanes I think we did OK.

Poor mom lives in a McMansion in southern Ohio. Her misery is now that my sister works too much (Note my sister works 2.25 hours a day) and my brother in law travels too much so she is so lonely. There is plenty of wine there.