A long, rolling shake woke us this morning, a mild but persistent earthquake. Google says it was a 6.0 near Vallejo. It must have felt big there, but I’m not sure I would have noticed if it weren’t for the sliding door of the closet thumping rhythmically.

It woke Jay as well. “That was a long one” he said, and went back to sleep. My adrenalin surged, then relief washed over me. We avoided the big one, again.

It’s a crazy feature of our primate brains, tuned to danger, that good fortune is hard to see, nearly invisible.

It wasn’t until Jaden got a fever and cough Friday night that I realized we’ve gone all summer with nobody sick. That’s remarkable, because for two snotty years it was rare to go a week without at least one of us having a cold or flu. Certainly we didn’t go a month. It seems like one, often two of us, had some sort of cold that whole time, as our family built its immunity, the kids bringing bug after bug home from school. Two plus months of easy breathing is cause for celebration.

A lovely young couple brought over a fruit salad yesterday, new friends we met at a Family Builders picnic this summer. They’re just entering “matching,” where you start hearing about possible foster matches, reading case files of many many kids. They are enegetic and optimistic, it was heartwarming. It’s been three years since we started matching, though that’s hard to believe.

The part where it seemed like we’d never get kids was so quickly replaced by the part where it’s hard to remember we ever didn’t have them.

Tonight they’re sleeping peacefully, though one’s a bit sick. We have a roof over our heads, water and electricity available even during the drought. Second grade starts on Wednesday. The dog’s eye problems are holding steady for now. August is gorgeous in Berkeley.

There’s so much to be thankful for, even if it does take the occasional quake to remind me.