An earthquake in Delaware? Not quite, but 'A Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On' in oddities

Superstitious coastal residents always approach a Friday the 13th with apprehension, and their angst was “rewarded” this past month when they experienced what many felt was an earthquake on that day.  

The ground shook and the sky rumbled with enough vigor that others thought they had been magically transported to the Monster Bridge luxury suites above the oval at Dover International Speedway. 

In reality, the seismic event turned out to be a side effect of low-altitude aircraft flight tests originating from the Naval Air Station Patuxent River in southern Maryland, or so the government claimed.  Jets, “unmanned aircraft systems,” i.e., drones, and other weapons of war are regularly tested there, at a facility euphemistically known as Pax River.  

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Although the governmental explanation was more believable than the one given to describe the 1947 UFO incident at Roswell, New Mexico, coastal residents were still troubled because, in the words of the 1950s rockabilly classic, there’s been a "Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On" lately in the region.

A bobble head for the Blue Hens?

For instance, you know those miniature figurines with the nodding heads?  Well, Jan. 7 was National Bobblehead Day, declared so by the National Bobblehead Hall of Fame and Museum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.  You might want to consider adding that museum to your bucket list.

In any case, this past Jan. 7 was not just any National Bobblehead Day.  It was the day that the museum released “an officially licensed, limited-edition Delaware Blue Hens YoUDee mascot” bobblehead.  

I assume someone in the university administration actually approved of, and is willing to take responsibility for, this “action figure” with the articulated body.  

Apparently only 2,023 will be made — a rather odd number to pick, don’t you think?  

I would have gone with 1743, the year that UDel was founded, but, then again, business is business. 

In Lewes, front and backyard insanity

Regardless, the YoUDee bobblehead does raise the question of who in the region has their heads screwed on straight. Certainly, the members of our local governmental councils and commissions would fall into that category. There’s no more straight up group than a cadre of local politicos.  

For instance, the Lewes City Council recently passed a “through lot” ordinance pertaining to building sites that run from one street to another.  

As reported in the local media, “the required front yard opposite the street address will function as a rear yard for accessory buildings and structures.”  Hmm.   

Council felt it necessary to qualify even that, the report continued, by creating a special exception for Shipcarpenter Square residences, “where the backyard is now the side facing the Shipcarpenter Square street.”  Is your head bobbing yet?

This is the same body, though admittedly with a somewhat different membership, that 14 months earlier considered another ordinance allegedly designed “to clean up language in city code” — although that may have been a reference to the naughty bits.    

Is your head spinning faster with the Earth?

In fairness, Council members, and indeed everyone on the planet, may be excused for recently acting in a somewhat unstable manner.  It seems that scientists have discovered that the Earth is rotating on its axis faster than recorded at any time in the past.  

As a result, days are now approximately 1.6 milliseconds shorter than previously. In simplest terms, there’s simply less time in which to adequately consider complex issues. Your head may not be spinning, but you probably are experiencing an irresistible urge to scratch it.   

This, of course, begs the question of why this faster rotation is occurring. Scientists have offered at least five competing explanations, one of which strikes me, being a trained historian, as the most logical — weight for it — the Chandler Wobble effect.  

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Discovered by and named after American astronomer Seth Carlo Chandler in 1891, it notes that the Earth is not a perfectly round sphere. As a result, it tends to wobble, and, over time, the axis shifts, leading to a slightly different spin speed.   

There are multiple factors that contribute to this phenomenon. One may be centered right here in Rehoboth, where the Parks & Shade Tree Commission is charged with approving or denying requests to remove trees in the Nation’s Summer Capital. At a typical meeting back in December, the commissioners approved the removal of two trees and denied the removal of four others.  

As my social media friends have noted, one could argue that this created an imbalance that contributed to the Chandler Wobble effect, and thus made our days shorter. How else can one explain the loss of daylight that we have been experiencing of late? 

In any case, some of the coast’s most treasured sites are taking necessary precautions in response to this solar phenomenon. For instance, in the award-winning bathroom facility at Delaware Botanic Gardens (more on that in a future column), steps have been taken to protect its acclaimed floating, stainless steel vanities from sloshing over should the Chandler Wobble accelerate further.  

Mike Berger is a freelance writer and retired university administrator with a home in Lewes.  Contact him atedadvice@comcast.net.