It was a pretty black Monday, the 13th of June. First, a pretty major 5.7 quake and just as we were recovering from that, its mean big brother roared in, cutting power, crashing down walls, breaking spirits. From my verandah I looked down the road to see the dust rising from the front wall of my shop now smashed to the ground.
The convent was in similar state. The walls of the chapel now almost completely down, the beautiful stained glass windows twisted and smashed amongst the rubble. Two pairs were still standing and appear to be holding up the walls.
We rescued the ones lying broken on the ground (one window still missing in action) - now the tea towel money will go towards their repair not salvage. Harder to fix will be that fragile sense of optimism and normality that was just starting to appear...
On the wall just behind the ice cream van, you can see a bit of the faded graffiti that was a deciding factor in buying the convent
- God Save the Queen. Elsewhere there was another piece which read
Punk's not dead - a sentiment which appealed to my husband's '70s punk rocker past.
This is the kitchen of the chapel, formerly a sacristy, which has been completely destroyed. To the right of that is my 5 year old's store (he's following in his mother's shopkeeper footsteps) which looks like it may also be red-stickered.
