Heartfelt blog post and Monday musings

Goodmorning everyone!
For those of us in Otago, today is Otago Anniversary Day, to mark the day when settlers came here and made this hilly Scottish looking place with albatross and seals, beaches, harbours and sea-lions, swamps and forests their home.

To celebrate this occasion my family and I went down to Birch Street Wharf to watch a re-enactment of settlers disembarking from a ship and traveling by horse and cart to the Octagon. At the Octagon they formed a shanty town, with tents and a fervent Presbyterian minister! Small groups played checkers, or mahjong, ladies of the night (in broad daylight) walked with (gentle) men and small children acting as pickpockets darted amongst the crowds. It was very whimsical and a pleasant distraction from the disasters which we are observing.

A post from Camelia in Christchurch really touched a nerve with me this morning. You can read more of her post here:
http://cameliasandcrinolines.blogspot.com/2011/03/earthquakes-and-heartbreaks.html

One comment in particular rang true with me, about finding the normal in the garden and in sewing. Trying to find some sense of normality, something which is untouched by catastrophe, something which endures and something which distracts us, by making us busy and productive.