A year ago tomorrow

Life changed forever for everyone living in Christchurch.   It changed in different degrees, for some just small changes, a little cosmetic damage to property, the ability to gauge the size of earthquakes accurately.   For others it changed in a big way, the loss of loved ones, of homes and possessions, jobs and local communities.  We're lucky, yes the garage is dangerous, but at least the house is only cosmetic damage and no-one we knew was killed.   We have friends who have lost their homes though and we know people who have lost friends too and people who were hurt that day.   I had been planning on being in town that day, so glad I procrastinated.
I suspect that everyone in Christchurch that day remembers exactly what they were doing when it hit; I certainly do as does my husband.   I was sewing seams on a quilt and that's exactly what I'll be doing tomorrow at the same time.  My husband was in the loo at his work; hopefully he won't be doing that and if he is it won't be in the same building as that's red stickered and likely to be demolished.  The boys were at school, just down the road being well looked after by the teachers and staff there who did a wonderful job, especially as many of them had no idea how their families were doing.

Things in Christchurch are not yet back to normal, but many businesses are back up and running, people are getting on with life admittedly with some adjustments.   I'd like to think that most homes in Christchurch now have emergency kits; pre-earthquake we were one of the few families that seemed to have one; now many do.

I'm going to be busy tomorrow morning, dropping into work, signing up for our storage (3-4 weeks turned out to be 3-4 days wait) and then working on the quilt, which really hasn't had much happen to it since a year ago.   I'll also be getting things ready for teaching the kids at school to spin on Friday.   I'm making basic spindles from CD's for them, I'd prefer finer shafts, but I can't get the grommets here so thick shaft it is.  I'll test run one first though.