Taking The Earthquake With Me

I'm in Auckland. I was looking forward to getting away and always find Auckland a great place to visit. We have such good friends here, and it is big, different and usually warmer than Christchurch. This visit also means getting away from the stress of the earthquake. At least that's what I thought.

But I'm from Christchurch, and let's just face facts, we aren't getting away from the earthquake for years.

It started on the plane. The lady beside me was a tourist from Germany. She'd been in Canterbury during the quake and asked me if all was alright with my house. I'm a storyteller, she got the story, poor thing. I think she was very pleased to meet someone with my experiences, now she can take that story home with her.

In the car from the airport to where we were staying, it was part of the conversation, but even a bigger part of my thoughts. I drove through the city assessing the damage that would occur in Auckland if an earthquake happened. Silly me. But with all these houses on cliffsides....

Then we walked into a grocery store. There were two men in high viz vests. I was just about to say, "Poor guys, must have just come from the city. Oh wait, we aren't in Christchurch." And then I remember, every person who wears a high viz hasn't necessarily been through an earthquake.