Up Front by Emma Hart

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Up Front: Twenty-Two Two, Two

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  • Hebe, in reply to Lilith __,

    I have just talked with the family about tomorrow: partner "too busy" catching up at work to be bothered with it, one boy with flu so he's sorted, the other teen's response to "How do you feel about the quake anniversary tomorrow, and do you want to do anything to mark the day?" was a very Kiwi man-of-few-words "Nuh". Me, I might toss a flower or two in the river, and I shall stay with the sick one and roast a chicken for dinner. Nesting feels right.

    Christchurch • Since May 2011 • 2899 posts Report Reply

  • Sacha, in reply to Hebe,

    eat less, shower less, drink less

    drink more, surely?

    Ak • Since May 2008 • 19745 posts Report Reply

  • Hebe, in reply to Emma Hart,

    Holy Smoke: bacon, and sublime cheese, aahh. But the brick building gives me the creeps; beautifully done but brick is not my building material of choice. Did you know that the Bread of Europe factory in Garlands Road is the new home of Bridge Street Pies? Broccoli feta and mushroom, is very good.

    Christchurch • Since May 2011 • 2899 posts Report Reply

  • Hebe, in reply to Sacha,

    Heh. I think not; he's old-school Presbyterian. If he were Catholic, that would be different...

    Christchurch • Since May 2011 • 2899 posts Report Reply

  • Miche Campbell, in reply to Hebe,

    Really? How do you know when they are going to happen?

    You keep an eye on the space weather forecast.

    Dunedin • Since Feb 2011 • 79 posts Report Reply

  • Hebe, in reply to Miche Campbell,

    Right; time to rustle up a possum-fur hat.

    Christchurch • Since May 2011 • 2899 posts Report Reply

  • Islander, in reply to Hebe,

    O this site isnt really working-

    ]1- there are sites you can check up on the liklihood of southern aurora
    2: Moeraki cool - but I need to get family labour
    3: Nah, life has been miserable: my best friend and neighbour died on the 19th of January, and most energy has been spent in -tidying up?
    Anyway: I am extremely tired, headed for the other side of the hill apopo

    - a nice moth has just arrived on the screen, so I take that as a byebye-

    Big O, Mahitahi, Te Wahi … • Since Feb 2007 • 5643 posts Report Reply

  • Islander, in reply to Islander,

    The moth is a byebye for me- not you!
    Take good care- stay well-

    Big O, Mahitahi, Te Wahi … • Since Feb 2007 • 5643 posts Report Reply

  • Emma Hart, in reply to Hebe,

    But the brick building gives me the creeps; beautifully done but brick is not my building material of choice.

    It is very obviously reinforced, but yes, I understand the gut reaction. The building was actually originally my great-grandfather's house.

    I have just talked with the family about tomorrow:

    My daughter's school (she's in the van Asch unit at Hagley now) are going in to the commemoration in Latimer Square. My son's school, Unlimited, are taking the kids who want to go in for that, but they're also having a barbeque and bands at the school for those who don't. They were evacuated from the school to Latimer Square during the earthquake, came through the Square, you can imagine what that was like for them, so there'll be a lot of kids who don't feel up to going back.

    Christchurch • Since Nov 2006 • 4651 posts Report Reply

  • Hebe, in reply to Emma Hart,

    Unlimited's is a well-considered plan -- those kids went through hell. Steiner hasn't said, but I guess that a similar plan to last year will happen.

    The school was 2km from the Feb 22 epicentre, so it was traumatic for everyone. Though we didn't see the city devastation and panic, I shall never forget the ground roaring and bellowing, and almost constantly moving beneath us all afternoon. It was terrifying; I wasn't sure we were all going to survive. The earth seemed ready to swallow us; though I knew that could not happen. The kids, who are from 4 to 18, and teachers were magnificently courageous and supportive of each other.

    I shall never forget it, and finally after a couple of hours doing what I could to help, having let myself think about whether my partner could be alive (I knew he was in his Manchester St office across from Java on the fourth floor) I looked up to see him striding through the crowd with his briefcase, totally covered in murky grey-brown dust so he looked like a ghost coming out of the strange dank cloudy day.

    I will be a lot happier tomorrow if it is sunny. Those glowering low grey cloud days still freak me.

    Christchurch • Since May 2011 • 2899 posts Report Reply

  • Emma Hart, in reply to Hebe,

    Unlimited’s is a well-considered plan – those kids went through hell.

    It's optional: the kids who want to go can, the ones who don't, don't have to. Hagley, they're just taking them in to Latimer Square, no choice.

    I am very glad we're going away. I wouldn't know quite what to do with myself if we weren't.

    Christchurch • Since Nov 2006 • 4651 posts Report Reply

  • JacksonP, in reply to Lilith __,

    I’m spending tomorrow with family, and I plan to hug them a lot. And any random stranger who looks like they need it. Arohanui, everybody.

    Hugs and Arohanui to you and everyone else in Christchurch. I’ll be there in a week in person, and I’ll try not to be a stranger.

    Emma, can you take me to The Hop?

    Auckland • Since Mar 2011 • 2450 posts Report Reply

  • Hebe,

    A small measure of progress I found this morning: there are no road cones in my street outside the house to decorate with flowers; only new channel and kerb and tarseal in these two blocks. Every other road cone I saw on the way to the city and back has been decorated. Nice.

    Christchurch • Since May 2011 • 2899 posts Report Reply

  • Lilith __, in reply to JacksonP,

    Hugs and Arohanui to you and everyone else in Christchurch. I’ll be there in a week in person, and I’ll try not to be a stranger.

    Thanks Jack. :-) And you better bloody not be. ;-)

    I was reading some guff from EQC last night, and find that Woolston, in contrast to Opawa, St Martins, Waltham, Linwood etc., has risen!! By an average of 100mm. Told yous it was an up and coming neighbourhood! :-)

    Dunedin • Since Jul 2010 • 3895 posts Report Reply

  • Emma Hart, in reply to Hebe,

    A small measure of progress I found this morning: there are no road cones in my street outside the house to decorate with flowers; only new channel and kerb and tarseal in these two blocks. Every other road cone I saw on the way to the city and back has been decorated. Nice.

    There are too many road cones on Linwood Ave. At least three of us have been out there by the looks of things, but about half of them are still empty.

    Emma, can you take me to The Hop?

    Absolutely, darling. I shall look at organising PAS CHCH drinks next weekend when I get back. People whose contact details I don't have (Hebe, Gudrun, looking at you), drop me a note.

    I am finding it a bit hard to cope with how cold and gray and lowering it is today - just like it was this day last year.

    Christchurch • Since Nov 2006 • 4651 posts Report Reply

  • Lilith __, in reply to Islander,

    Islander - how awful for you. Arohanui from me (as always), and I hope better times are just around the corner (or over the hill)!

    Dunedin • Since Jul 2010 • 3895 posts Report Reply

  • Lilith __, in reply to Emma Hart,

    I am finding it a bit hard to cope with how cold and gray and lowering it is today – just like it was this day last year.

    Who would have thought that a slightly rubbish sorta cloudy day would feel ominous? But, yeah. It does.

    Dunedin • Since Jul 2010 • 3895 posts Report Reply

  • Hebe, in reply to Lilith __,

    Me too (in a squeaky voice). Just been to my riverbank and strewed a few flowers from the garden. That's it. Done.

    Christchurch • Since May 2011 • 2899 posts Report Reply

  • Lilith __, in reply to Hebe,

    I was going to throw flowers in the river, but dammit, I'm gonna give them to my Mum. :-)

    Dunedin • Since Jul 2010 • 3895 posts Report Reply

  • Hebe, in reply to Lilith __,

    Good call. Apparently "hundreds" rather than thousands at the Latimer Square memorial. It seems most people are taking a few quiet moments then on with life. Tonight we'll cosy up with the woodburner, good roast chicken, new spuds and cavolo nero from the garden, the last of the paddock full of garlic the boys and I grew in 2011; maybe a DVD from Alice's, and family. And I probably won't be able to resist the quake doco "Where the faults lie".

    Christchurch • Since May 2011 • 2899 posts Report Reply

  • Kyle Matthews,

    Driving up to Chch tonight for a day and a half of meetings over the weekend. Was last there in April last year.

    Can't say I'm looking forward to seeing the centre of town again, as an outsider it's just weird to see a city gutted like that.

    Since Nov 2006 • 6243 posts Report Reply

  • Kebabette,

    A good and honest post, thanks Emma. I've taken a bunch of pics today. http://www.flickr.com/photos/christchurchcitylibraries/sets/72157632820590271/ 2nd anniversary was as hard as the first. For 12:51, I just stood quietly between the Bridge of Remembrance and the Re:START and threw some rosemary in the river. As my workmate observed: "Avon River - tuna, trout, scaup, mallards, paradise ducks, drowned cone, people, flowers, quiet memories #chch #eqnz"

    Christchurch • Since Feb 2007 • 221 posts Report Reply

  • Kumara Republic, in reply to Emma Hart,

    Schools by electorate. Or, as Chris Hipkins said on Twitter:

    "5 of the 7 schools proposed for closure or merger in Nat electorates saved. 8 of the 25 schools in Lab electorates saved. 71% vs 32%."

    And somehow there's no coincidence with charter schools springing up round the corner from the shuttered schools. It'll be very post-Katrina if it truly did come to pass.

    The southernmost capital … • Since Nov 2006 • 5446 posts Report Reply

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