Balancing Rock

Some eight or nine years ago I put this rock on an old concrete post.  I thought that it had a sculptural quality, quite apart from any Freudian connotations.  It has sat there gathering lichen ever since.  This afternoon as I walked past it I noticed that it had made a quarter turn from its previous position.  For a moment I wondered how that came about.  Then I realised- the earthquake.  

Although the earthquake seemed extreme to me it is obvious that it was a lot less severe here than in many other places that are a lot further away from the epicentre than I am.  Yesterday we were without power for most of the day.  I did not see the images of the devastation  in Christchurch City until evening.  Then I understood how lucky we were here.

My daughter, FirehorseMia, did not fare so well.  The contents of her kitchen cupboards and shelves- china, glassware, and baking and cooking ingredients in jars- were all hurled to the floor with such force everything was smashed.  She used a shovel to clear it up.

Many families have lost their homes, and many business people have lost their livelihoods.

And the aftershocks continue.  I have experienced a large number of earthquakes in my time, but many of these aftershocks are worse than any I'd ever felt before.  It must be terrifying for the people most affected.