I was awakened by rumblings and, disgruntled and sleepy, thought: 'who the hell is making such a raucous, at this hour!" Awakening more and staggering off of the cushions that were my bed: "thats gota be alot of people, or rosa's turned into a giant..." The windows rattled and doors shook as I staggered to the window to look outside: "cant be people. Gusts of wind maybe?" My hand just drawing back the curtains my mind has finally kicked into gear: "Oh! must be an earthquake, I should go stand in a doorframe." And turning from the window saw a flash of light.
I realized it was an earthquake. Having done I rather calmly made my way to the nearest doorway into the hall, though I staggered slightly on the vibrating floor. Once in the door I relaxed significantly, my mind was comfortable and no longer cranking. I enjoyed the ride really, and as it faded walked out and surprised my hosts. One hadn't realized I was staying the night so was rather a bit more surprised to see me in the hall. Immediately after the first strike several after shocks shook the house and I darted back under my doorframe. Then things seemed to have settled so I opened the door onto the patio.
Behold a red-orange moon, quarter crescent, rising over the hill. A black void stretching through most of christchurch, with just a few strips of lights towards the distance. The stars, that I had strained to see earlier, shining bright above. And flashing in the darkness bellow, alarms blaring the cars protested their interrupted slumber. Beams of light, thrown by torches, flew across walls, buildings, and trees as people emerged from their abodes to explore and check the damage. which, locally at least, can be summed up with: "everything's under control. Situation normal. Uh, we had a slight weapons malfunction, but uh... everything's perfectly all right now. We're fine. We're all fine here now, thank you. How are you?" The lights were out and we lost a bottle of wine, Which I first smelled, and then stepped into, as I was looking in the closet for some milk.
Liz came up with rosa, and we watched the stars and wandering beams of light for a while before settling down to sleep the rest of the morning away. Sleeping didn't work too well, tremors kept occurring which rattled the room. While we didn't feel too pressed to get out again thereafter some made us nervous.
Morning came and we found a beautiful day, not a cloud in the sky. No disaster to be seen around (other than broken glass in the kitchen). The only clue to the nights events were the continued tremors and no power. We cooked on a gas camping stove, and went up to the terrace to overlook the city from the hills of cashmere and enjoy the sun.
Abby and Morten went for a bike into the city. They returned with discounted breads, confections, and tales of the city. At right is a Morten's reaction to the destruction he found (or caused?) on one corner. Older brick constructions suffered most: loosing bricks, and dropping chimneys, while other buildings lost gutters and signs. But we enjoyed the garden and out of the mild destruction decided to sew knew life and planted some seeds in the garden. Space was cleared for spinach, lettuce, rocket, and corriander, dirtying our hands and fingernails. The power returned so we had tea and toast for lunch. We ran around the garden pretending to be lions, chasing and being chased by rosa.
On such a gorgeous day a trip to the beach was in order! We sallied up and drove through town. Some roads were closed and flooded or with cracks and silt in the gutters.
But we got to the beach and enjoyed it's marvels. We ran into the sea, a freezing cold sea that wrenched the breath away. Under water one had no sense other than urgency. But above the waves one could enjoy, and splash quite happily and warmly in the sun, while the feet slowly numbed in the sea. I dug holes in the sand seeking crabs, only to find odd cavities and then a sand worm with what seemed many many legs. I drew in the sand. Rosa ran hither and thither, placed mud on my feet, splashed and sat in my sand pits. Abby and Morten gathered clams to make a yummy dinner. All this Elizabeth recorded with her camera.
In the end, as the sun sets, the world seems fine. A 7.4 earthquake, later downgraded to a 7.1, and tremors sometimes over 5 in magnitude seems to have little affected life. But the center of town is said to be more impacted, and I'm sure CNN has all hell broken loose. Here at home we boild our water for three minutes just to be sure. 38 hrs later the tremors still occur. and now I sleep.
A beatiful day followed the destruction that hit christchurch. A light rattling was all we had and we loved the day all the more for it. sun in the garden, snacks, and beach time.
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