22/2 - Reflecting and Hoping

The chairs representing the heroes that lost their lives in the quake

 Today, the nation remembers, mourns and some try to forget. this date is etched into our memories and everyone in the country can remember what they were doing when they either experienced the 6.3 earthquake or heard the news. If you are interested here is my blog post about my experience of the 6.3 Christchurch earthquake.

I had the day off today, for some relaxing time, it just so happened to be this date. I had a wander around town and boy does it feel different. It isn't depressing, its different and ever-changing and quiet and noisy all at the same time. Sure there are road works and detours and bumps in the road, but however slowly, things are happenning. It sucks to have to add 10 min to your commute to detour but that is the price we have to pay to get things to change.

In my mind, I have set myself an expectation that the re-build will take at LEAST 5 years. That includes road works, EQC claims, cracks to be repaired, the city centre to become functioning again. I am trying to tell myself that although it has been 2 years, look how far we have come, half that time the country was trying to figure out how the heck to get things underway, and rightly so. I see the workers, I speak to the workers at my cafe and I see how hard they are working, how tight their schedules are, how many hours overtime they work each day.

I feel positive about the future of this city. I would NOT like to be making any of the decisions around here, the opinions are so extreme that no matter what gets decided, it is wrong. But whatever happens, it will be a step forward.

Flowers in the ever-present road cones has become an anniversary tradition

This sign, however tagged and silly the answers may be, has significance. I can think of a few words I would add:

GROW

CHANGE

BE REFRESHED

HAVE HOPE

HAVE FAITH

BE STRONG

RISE UP.