Ominous

This morning's sunrise was an ominous portent of the storm that will arrive overnight. 

I've had a seminar/presentation to attend for work tonight. It was held upstairs in the Staff Club at the University of Canterbury. I worked at the university for years and walking into the Staff Club was like walking into a time warp. I'm sure it was the same staff sitting downstairs in front of the fire supping their drinks too. They probably didn't realise it was closed for several years for earthquake repairs and just sat in their chairs ;-)

Anyway, it was and interesting and useful presentation. And then I toddled off home. I'd been home earlier to feed the pope and close the house up. I had enough time to have a cursory look at the drainage plans for my home before I left for town again.

I'm more curious rather than worried. The development has storm water pits for each property and for shared spaces. Rather than pipe water from everyone's roofs into drains and then to wherever, the water pipes to literally a buried drainage hole in the ground.

Water drains away and back into the aquifers - or that's the theory. In x number of years I guess it will probably stop draining and a new hole will need to be put in. I'll know when my lawn is sodden. It's a different approach to Christchurch City which would struggle to do this given much of the city is built on a swamp.

A lot of things are different where I live now compared to where I used to live. Some days my commute home requires me to pause and wait for a tractor, and this week I saw my first lambs. That seems a bit early even for on the plains.

Today's gratitude: For choices. I have so many from small ones I don't even think about, through to huge life changing ones. To be denied choice must be a terrible thing.