Disaster

Since I said this blog would be a record for me of all that is happening in my life, I thought I should note here that my creativity is somewhat stymied at the moment by news of the terrible Christchurch earthquake disaster 22 Feb - New Zealand is in a state of national emergency as people flee the damaged city and reports come of heartbreaking damage and a rising death toll. This is a shot of the Christchurch Cathedral (Image by Don Scott/The Press) For people not in NZ, here are some photos from Day 2 - I keep going to Stuff.co.nz during the day to see what is happening, and of course it is constantly on our TV screens.
I woke up really early this morning and couldn't get back to sleep. My mind keeps coming back to the terrible losses there - of the rising toll of people dead and missing, of destroyed infrastructure and the enormous task of rebuilding, of people dislocated and frightened...
our family was flooded out of our home in the terrible events of February 2004 and this current disaster reminds me of that sick-to-the-stomach feeling of leaving our home not knowing when we would be back, seeing all that we had worked for lying under water, not knowing what would be recovered or when, and then the sense of unreality as days passed and we saw the magnitude of the disaster for everyone else at the time.
The thoughts of NZ are with the people of Christchurch, and for anyone reading this blog who is personally touched by this disaster and/or knows people/family who are, know that we are all thinking of you with love and compassion.