One Year On

A year ago today, before dawn, our region was shaken by the worst earthquake that most of us had ever experienced. For a large number of people it was a life changing event. Massive damage was done to homes, buildings and land. We thought ourselves lucky that nobody was killed. It was just as well we didn't know what was yet to come- 7500 quakes and aftershocks to date, several of them devastating, with nearly 190 lives lost. Half the buildings in our city have been, or will be demolished. More than 10,000 homes have been wrecked, and countless people have been traumatised by the ongoing aftershocks.

I have been fortunate. My old wooden house on firm land has coped well with the shakes. My daughter in the city has not been so lucky. Four times the contents of her home have been hurled about and broken. Her house requires extensive repairs.

My shot was inspired by a story I read in our local newspaper, The Press, about the Homebush homestead, which was destroyed by that first earthquake a year ago. It was the "big house" of this district, built with bricks made on the property. Brick buildings fared the worst.

The hills here were rich in coal and clay. Many brickworks were operating in the 19th century. When I came here I found a lot of old bricks lying about or buried in the garden. They have a variety of brands, most of which are no longer legible. Two of them are Homebush made.

I set the bricks up under a plum tree so that I could include the old fashioned double daffodil. It was only when I reviewed the shot that I saw the shadow of a branch, that looks so like one of the fissures opened by the earthquake.