Be careful what I wish for

My last post was a little over three weeks ago, talking about how much I wanted to go camping, start renovating my bathroom and go back to New Zealand.  Who knew that by the end of February circumstances would have changed so much?


Since then, I have had a great camping trip with my friend Laura in the Shenandoah Valley where we hiked in shorts in the snow, nearly completely stripped the bathroom down to the studs, figured out how to squeeze a second bathroom out of a closet, and booked flights home in April.

It's ironic that I renamed this blog "Grounded Living" when it's the violent shaking of the ground underneath my home town that's resulted in me going home for the first time in over four years.  Unfortunately, I have to go alone because Mark's working.  That's hard for him - he's really feeling the distance from family and NZ.  But it's the first time I've been truly thankful for being unemployed, allowing me to travel for most of April without worrying about justifying the trip to a boss or leaving colleagues in the lurch or work piling up in my absence.

As much as I'm looking forward to going and giving big hugs to all my family, the scope and magnitude of the earthquake and what I'm going to see is just starting to sink in with every new day's report of dead and missing, new photographs and video of the damage and descriptions of the process of search and rescue and identification.

My Dad wrote the following for one of our best friends in the States who lost a friend in the earthquake.  We don't know if her body has been recovered, but it certainly hasn't been identified.  I thought that his description really evoked both the challenge faced by the city and first responders, and also the care that is at the core of the individuals involved.

We are sorry about your friend, and wish you could have been here yourself to give the sort of support we know you would give so well. I thought that a few words about what is going on here might be of value.


The Coroner was interviewed on TV two evenings ago, and I was most impressed with the deliberate care she is ensuring for those who have died. They will all have absolutely positive identification by means of dental records, DNA, and fingerprints as required. No name is being released until the identification is certain. It means that some families are champing at the bit, but in the long run it will save possible anguish due to mistaken identity. The Coroner also said that the bodies would have living company all the time they are waiting identification, until they are released to families. That's good to know, and will be of tremendous help to those ethnicities which would worry much about it.


The two "kinds" of damage are essentially the Central Business District, where so much has been flattened, and where your friend was killed, and the Eastern suburbs where houses have been inundated again with silt - horrible grey liquid which stinks and dries into a fine all-pervading powder. We have been incredibly impressed with the care with which those in charge of the search and rescue operation have moved into action. They are obviously following a developed programme, and are letting the public know through interviews on radio and TV. The other things which bowls us over is the overseas aid and personnel which have been poured into the city. We have teams of trained rescuers from Australia, Taiwan, the Philippines, Japan, China, USA, and Britain. Each team brought tonnes of specialist equipment with them. Three hundred police from Australia have come over and been sworn in to aid the local police. Sixty extra police cars, helicopters, and army vehicles are also here. The port of Lyttelton, which was where the epicentre was is being looked after by the crews of three NZ naval ships which happened to be in port when the quake struck. One of the ships is feeding many people, and this afternoon sailed for Wellington to get supplies. The army and air force have 900 men and women working here in the city.


One of the leading expert disaster managers who had worked at the 9/11 horror has said that though there were many less fatalities the work was even more difficult because of the continuing shakes which posed serious danger to rescuers. A Californian leader said how impressed he has been with the organisation. Sure, they are bound to make some errors, but these are minimal. One of the toughest decisions has been to move from one site to another, leaving known bodies under the rubble, but going to where there was more hope of survivors. They left the Cathedral tower work until today, so minute was the chance of a survivor there. Apparently asphyxiation accounts for a significant number of deaths.


We, like many others who live only ten minutes from the city centre, feel useless in that there is nothing we can get our hands on to do. Lots have done cooking and taken it in to distribution points, and much food has been given. A huge team of farmers from as far away as two or three hours drive have arrived with spades and equipment to help shovel away the silt in the suburbs. Everyone is doing what they can. But somehow, as was the case in WW1, those of us who have not been hurt feel guilty for our good fortune - nuts I know; but a reality.


Well, I have told you these things, not boasting of the local effort, but to assure you that everything that can be done is being done with as much skill and loving care as is available.  We do hope your friend's family is receiving the love and care they need. I know that teams of counsellors and carers are available and working night and day for such folk.


So be encouraged, and continue to pray for the love and care going in from so many men and women from round the world who are helping.

The quake has resulted in the complete shutdown of the Central Business District, bounded by four beautiful avenues and incorporating a gorgeous central park and Botanic Gardens. A huge amount - probably the majority - of the business of the city is conducted in this area.  To give you an idea, imagine the area from Foggy Bottom to Union Station and down to the US Capitol and along Constitution back to the Department of State.  Or the entire Rosslyn-Ballston corridor plus Crystal City.  Now imagine 750 buildings in that area 'red-stickered' - they will be demolished without being entered, too dangerous to search.  Nearly 1,000 buildings are 'yellow-stickered' meaning they can be searched, but may be demolished.  And 1,200 - fewer than half - are declared safe to enter.  That's not to mention the thousands of residences in the surrounding suburbs that are damaged, destroyed or simply too frightening to live in.

I know I can't imagine that much devastation.  It won't be real to me until I see it for myself.

In between now and then, I have to finish stripping the bathroom walls and floor, remove a cast iron tub, oversee prep work, after which the plumber can come in the tear the house apart installing a new stack and water lines.  And hopefully we'll have enough time (and skill - as with all house renovations, this one involves jobs I've never attempted before) to put the bathroom back to the point that Mark can take a shower while I'm away.  Having a house with only one bathroom (so far) is a bit of a challenge, but it certainly adds a degree of pressure for haste!

Oh, and there's the kitchen in MD to finish and the kitchen in MD to start.  And at some point I need to start training again for my races later in Summer.

I wanted nothing more than to be busy through this Winter and latest unemployment.  That I am and as a result been pretty happy even!  But, to be honest, I'm starting to feel a little overwhelmed.  I think a lot of that is anticipation of going home and also the simultaneous 'hurry up and wait' process that is trying to get a job with the Federal Government.  This is actually a real job this time for which I've pre-interviewed and one I have a decent chance of getting.  But I fully expect the process to drag on through March and April at least and then for it all to come to naught. Tomorrow is March and I'll be facing - once again - the sinking feelings of another month having passed without much movement on the job front.  At least with these transitions mean Spring is coming!

But the other reason for acknowledging the transition from February to March, is that Mark and I celebrate our 4.75th anniversary in Leap Years (19th in non-leap years).  Yeah!  Going out for a fab dinner tonight to celebrate.