January in Wellington

So here we are well into the new year. Two weeks down and fifty to go.

At the beginning of the year we were able to testify that the new year seemed safe enough as we communicated with people on the other side of the date line. Perhaps we were wrong.

The abundance of rain – monsoon rains or otherwise – and the floods we have seen, described by an Australian as being of “biblical” proportions, has brought chaos across three continents this week. Australian and Sri Lankan floods, Brazilian land slips – perhaps the weather watchers are right about global warming after all.

Here in Wellington we have yet to experience the big one – the earthquake that is inevitable. In 1855 in the Wairarapa, not far from here in seismic terms, an 8.2 earthquake caused a shake up on 23rd January, the 15th Wellington Anniversary Day. As Anniversary day comes around again it makes you think.

The advantages of that quake were threefold. More land to use in the city (one can find the old water line marked in a street), a decent road and rail link to the Hutt Valley, and a cricket stadium in an area called the “Basin Reserve” – the area was thus a nice place to park your yacht, if you had one.

If we get another big one, we are told that the whole lot will go down again. Underwater cricket, like underwater hockey our favourite spectator sport, could be the latest Olympic challenge.

We will be at the Basin Reserve tomorrow to watch New Zealand’s Black Caps play Pakistan. Hopefully we won’t need a snorkel and goggles as we watch them drown again. The last game ended dismally on the third day.

In the meantime the 14th of January is a pleasant sunny day with a pleasant southerly breeze. What to do? We could carry on packing and sorting, or we could go out and enjoy the capital of the wobbly islands, said to be second only to New York as a world capital. True enough, it’s quite a small capital. But it has its beauty. And given the right kind of earthquake, could have a new series of islands. Not as big or fancy as Manhattan, Staten or Long islands, but then the peninsula we live on will probably be an island again! It does not compare of course. Our suburb was described by an unimpressed and here unnamed relative as being like “Umbilo during the war”. Only Durban people would get that!

We think of the thousands displaced by floods around the world this week, especially our Australian cousins in Queensland, who are showing their standard grit and determination that make them great at many things including cricket.

Happy New Year sounds a bit thin in this context. Courageous perhaps – filled with love and community spirit that exudes resilience and compassion.

Dominus Vobiscum.