On this day last year I was experiencing the weirdest day of my life. I had gone to bed pondering the warp speed at which Miss J had turned from 'baby' to five year old and awoke at 4.30am convinced that I was about to ruin her birthday by dying. For nearly a minute I was sure the house would collapse as Canterbury shook with an earthquake of 7.1 on the Richter scale. That was a very long 50 seconds.
Thus began the new post-quake normal. There was no power, barely any communications, and at that point we were clueless as to what would happen next. We were stressed to the max and quite scared. But, lucky to be alive.
Thus began the new post-quake normal. There was no power, barely any communications, and at that point we were clueless as to what would happen next. We were stressed to the max and quite scared. But, lucky to be alive.
I'm sure I've written enough about earthquakes for you to have an idea what we have been through in the last year. There is no point in repeating it all on this day of our Quakeiversary. To summarise: we have had, and continue to have, earthquakes. The earth is doing as it will do and we are just along for the often bumpy ride.
As if to illustrate that nature is just getting on with it, Spring has sprung.
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Further to the natural rhythm of the universe, mothers and grandmothers of Christchurch are today performing the Fathers Day ritual of compulsory-attendance family lunch on the deck. Grandma made her secret recipe rice and mince dish and gooseberry pie. The sun made a cameo appearance (what's that big, shiny thing ???).
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| Summer fruit! |
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| Gooseberry pie? Hello! |
Cider was slurped and the boys hung out and played with heavy machinery. This is my Grandfathers lawn mower. He has a large lawn, but to be honest I'm not sure that the size of the lawn justifies the size of the mower. He'll never give it up though. Boys need toys.
Even nervy little Ginge was 'laxing in the sun. This cat turned up one day with a huge wound on his face. Basically the skin on one side of his face was gone, but it healed. We don't know where he came from or how he got injured (car accident maybe?). However, when he saw Mamasana he clearly realised that his luck had truly arrived. Now her place, is his (luxury, everything a feline could wish for, treated like an egyptian god) place.
All of this hanging with the fam makes me feel warm and full of the lucks, and I'm hoping this will carry over to next week, which needs to be a study fest.
I hope your weekend is going as well and **Happy Fathers Day** to all the dads, grandads, surrogate dads, stepdads and any other man that delivers a bit of fatherliness in this crazy world. You all deserve a beer. *chink*
Lovely to see your grandparents doing what grandparents do, the world over - even in the face of the strange behaviour of your little patch of earth.
ReplyDeleteTell them hello and give them a hug from me when you see them next. I loved them soooo much!
xx