Too Sad For Words...

I have found it almost too sad for words, to post about the Christchurch Earthquake.

How does one write about the destruction of a dearly loved city?

I remember all the good times I spent in that beautiful City.

My Gom was born, and grew to Manhood,  in that City. Our children were born in that City.

I spent very many wonder-filled months in that City, with BFJ, who is my best friend. We laughed and cried together in that wonderful, mysterious, beautiful City.

We ran to work, our black stockinged legs flashing,  through Latimer Square, which became a Triage Center for the wounded in the latest Eathquake.

We smelled the wonderful, woodsmokey air, in the evenings, as we ran home together, from nights out, when we chose to keep our own company.

The Street we shared a flat upon, is now, largely,  destroyed.

My BFJ would now be a widow, ~though not as a result of this earthquake~ but the time has flown, and memories remain, of times, with joy, and laughter. Times as young mothers, young wives. Christchurch was a unique and magical City in many respects.

Memories of times spent with our children, upon the banks of the Avon River. Rambles in the Botanic Gardens, which were, effectively, our back yard, when we lived in the Inner City Hotel.

That Hotel is long gone, pulled down, because of instability, and a lack of interest in restoration. Our Country Hotel is now gone, as a result of the previous Earthquake.


A photo of the rubble left, after the Earthquake.  This was once the Christchurch Anglican Cathedral, which was a landmark and the Central focus of the Square, of Christchurch's Central City. BFJ and I once visited on an Easter Sunday. Goodness knows why.

Another shot of the destroyed Cathedral. Many lives are believed to be lost in this Cathedral, when the earthquake struck.

The Earthquake did not discriminate between Religions. This is a shot of the Catholic Basilica, which stood on a steet BFJ and I once lived upon.

These are before and after photos of Christchurch Cathedral.

We seem to have no anchors left in that beautiful City, we love, and have loved, these many years before.

We have managed to contact most of our friends and the few relatives Gom has left. All say they are well, and safe.

We are nowhere near this disaster, physically, but mentally, it has left us all feeling very sad, depressed, and fearful, for the future of this once glorious city.

Our personal tragedies, and day to day dramas, seem to have little importance, compared to the magnitude of this tragedy.
We still have our lives, and we still have each other.


Chris Bolton. How am I supposed to live without you.