Saturday, June 22, 2013

Enjoy life


Enjoying life even in "dark" times


Thursday evening at around 6.00pm the storm hit Wellington - gale force southerlies (from Antarctica) bringing torrential rain, freezing temperatures and scary gusts that shook the house.

Apparently the wind reached 200 kmph which is 3x gale force as defined by the NZ Metservice and was the worst storm to hit Welly in 45 years. No wonder it was scary.

The bus stop is 2 minutes from my house but by the time I got into my house that evening I was soaking wet. Even my thick New York winter jacket didn't help to keep me dry or warm.

And then at around 1.00am the power went out and we had 18 hours of no power in freezing temperatures.

I had to go into work just to charge up my phone in case we were stuck without power for sometime. There was carnage everywhere. Huge trees had toppled blocking roads, roofs ripped off houses - unbelievable I was stunned to see them strewn around and the wind was just horrendous but at least the rain had eased up a bit. The temperature however was still freezing.

Then my house alarm decided it wanted to join in the drama so went on the blink and started screaming. I had to rush home and call an electrician to re-set it.

Yesterday (June 21)  was the shortest day of the year so it got dark so early. By about 5.00pm we were in darkness.

So there we sat in our lounge with our trusty little lamp giving us a little light and the gas heater (thank goodness for that) giving us some heat.

And then I started to laugh - after all the drama and whinging, I suddenly  saw the funny side of it all and embraced the moment. Humour saved the day, we laughed at how the 3 of us sat there silent, listening to the sound of the wind, wrapped up in blankets and resting peacefully while we waited for the lights to come on.

 It gave us all a chance to look at life differently and it certainly taught us the art of patience. "Make hay while the sun shines" took on a whole new meaning.

So rather than complain, we just soaked in the darkness and the sound of the wind and enjoyed the  time given to us for a little bit of rest.

And strangely, these are the moments I do want to remember - they remind me that we do survive and adapt even in uncomfortable and unexpected situations. Friends just rally around and provide comfort even if it's through a text or two. Thank goodness for mobile phones and 3G coverage that kept us connected.

18 hours after the power went out, we got it back again. Oh the joy! And just so relieved and grateful that there was no damage to my house or in fact to any in my street. Thank You Lord.

And here is my little lamp that gave us a little bit of light and comfort. Helped us enjoy life in those dark moments. (June photo a day prompt for day 22 - enjoying life)




And here are some stormy pictures
(taken from the TV One and TV Three News Videos)

waves rose 15meters at Days Bay

car park

Katherine Mansfield's beach home - KM was a NZ writer born in 1888.



Supermarket sign crashed to the ground - one of my neighbouring suburbs


Petone railway tracks




 Linking to: 
 This Moment - Soule Mama
A single photo capturing a moment 
A simple, special, extraordinary moment 
A moment I want to pause, savour and remember


Unknown Mami






Photobucket

16 comments:

  1. Up here, of course, it was the longest day of the year, though I'm sure that yours seemed longer.

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    1. Yes it was a long long day. I'm glad it's over though and hope we never go through it again.

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  2. God bless that lamp! Happy you all survived ok. I have family in Calgary, Alberta and there are nightmare floods there too.

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    1. Thanks Restlessjo. Mother Nature is venting her fury in many parts of the world. The Ganges in India is also in flood and in a rage. I hope your family in Calgary are safe and well.

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  3. That lamp was a beacon! I am glad you are all okay. I traveled through Wellington, on my to live for a year in a suburb of Melbourne. That was over thirty years ago. I am sure a lot has changed since then.

    My 6ws is here: http://mlissabeth.wordpress.com/2013/06/22/six-word-saturday622/

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    Replies
    1. Thanks Mlissabeth. Yes it was truly a beacon. Oh yes Welly has changed heaps in the last 20 years. Nice that you've visited :)

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  4. The lamp looks beautiful and powerful at the same time. Glad everything is fine now. Such moments are for enjoying the simplicity of life. I am sure these moments will remain fresh for a very long time in your mind. :)

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    Replies
    1. Thanks Jyothi - yes times like these are great reminders of what one is capable of doing in hard times.

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  5. Scary stuff. How wonderful is the human spirit, to find laugher even in such circumstances! (Btw I believe you have made a mistake in Katherine Mansfield's birth date.)

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    1. Thanks Rosemary and oops on the date - now corrected to 1888. I think humour was the only way we could deal with it.

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  6. God bless! So glad all of you are fine. Hugs!

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    1. Thanks Swathi - it was quite scary but had to keep our wits about us.

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  7. Oh no. Recently I've seen too many news like this. In central Europe it's been flooding or really, really hot...I wonder what we've done to our Tellus.
    Happy you're safe...

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    1. Thanks Blogitse. Yep it's all over the world. Terrible floods in India too - so many places just washed away.

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  8. Hello Suzy,

    Thanks god everyone is safe around you. Unfortunately we also had bad news like this around Lourdes, in south-western France, the city is best known for famous Virgin Mary sightings, I don't know if you heard about it ?

    Blessings

    Grace on a late SWS !

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    Replies
    1. Thanks Grace, yes I have heard of Lourdes. The weather is bad everywhere - Mother Nature is very angry. Blessings to you too.

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