Spirit of a nation

As soon as I was aware that this week's challenge subject was spirit (see here), I formed the plan of photographing whisky. Then Christchurch was devastated by the earthquake, and such thoughts became unimportant in front of the amazing displays of love, bravery and spirit we witnessed over the next few days. Television, and the internet bring us all so much closer. They make events like this real and immediate in a way that other media cannot.

These many miles away, my life has (and has had to) continued as it was planned; appointments kept, bills paid, runs taken. This morning I went through the Auckland Domain and when there managed to capture a striking image of the War Memorial Museum in the early morning light. An image of the huge spirit of our ancestors. That was to be my blip for today.

However, when I saw the sunset, I knew the picture I had to take. I poured myself a glass of Glenmorangie, Cellar 13, put the bottle and the glass on a table on the deck, and took this picture looking towards the sunset. The glass is a memento from the Waipu sesquicentenary in 2003, celebrating the spirit of the Scots from the Western Highlands who travelled to Nova Scotia with Norman McLeod, and then built six ships and travelled around the world to Waipu, the first boat arriving in 1853. My ancestors were on the Breadalbane arriving in 1856.

With one of my favourite whiskies I toast the spirit of my countrypeople in Christchurch in admiration of their courage in the face of adversity.