Silver Shadow

The Friday private parker has another car. Their garage is probably bigger than my house. ;-) I called the blip of their Bentley "Ma'am" so Silver Shadow it is.

Today is the 10th anniversary of the first of the Canterbury earthquakes, the 7.1 Darfield quake. It started a violent 2.5 - 3 years of earthquakes.

I remember texting Dad from under my stairs. Mum was in hospital and I knew he'd probably wake early and likely listen to the radio.

Other than my shaking hands that struggled to operate my phone and significant jolts every few minutes, I didn't know how to tell Dad what had happened without alarming him more.

I think I said that "we'd had a bit of a shake and I was ok, safe under the stairs". Understatement.

I remember my disbelief at daybreak that I couldn't see any damage to my home and nothing was broken. The noise was incredible.

I remember the moment during the day where I said to myself that I'd always appreciate the ordinary. It took a hell of a long time before life ever felt ordinary. Everyone talked about a "new normal".

I was fortunate. My power and water was restored during the afternoon, and I could flush my loo. The damage to home started a few days later.

A lovely memory of Dad is at the end of that first day. Quakes rolled and jolted through every few minutes. I lived in a 2 storey home and my bedroom was upstairs.

I decided to sleep downstairs on the sofa. As darkness fell I felt scared. Dad stayed on the phone as I collected my pillow, sleeping bag, prepared a get away bag, and settled down with my headlamp and shoes nearby.

I didn't sleep at all. Wilson the cat was on top of me. His ear movements alerted me of the next jolt. Dad's earlier reassurance on the phone helped me through that night.

Today's gratitude: For an ordinary day.