Just after I had drifted off to sleep in the wee hours of November 14 I became aware of the frantic cries of Percy the pheasant outside my window.
It was a strange, disjointed experience.
Something was off but I wasn't awake enough to figure it out.
Percy regularly patrols his territory around (and including) the house but he always does this in silence during the night.
All of the sudden his footfall was joined by what sounded like a herd of small hoofed animals scrabbling across the front porch and then the windows began to shake and the bed began to move.
I sat up and waited for things to settle down but the shaking grew stronger.
I wandered into the hallway and met Audrey standing there with wide eyes.
Around us the walls pulsed and the floor heaved. The overhead lights swung wildly back and forth.
"It feels like we're at sea," Audrey said.
The rolling sensation continued accompanied by the screams of Percy.
Nick was only partially awake to these events and Alex slept through them.
I spent the rest of the night riding out aftershocks and refreshing the browser on my computer so I could keep up with the news about the quake.
I worried about the issue of a tsunami warning and wondered about the untold damage being done.
Reports of destruction came from Wellington, Kaikoura and Waiau.
The earthquake registered as a 7.5 and the epicenter was very close to my uncle's property in the Hurinui district.
As dawn approached the house continued to tremble with aftershocks and news of landslips, fallen masonry and two fatalities trickled in.
The next morning was sunless and dreary. I slept through most of it and the afternoon trip to the grocery store with Nick felt unreal.
It seemed like a slow apocalypse had begun.
Trump had taken the presidency, the sun had disappeared and my part of New Zealand had been torn and shaken to bits.
It was possible this was the beginning of something worse.
I felt the impending shift towards depression.
The routes that allowed trucks to bring in food and other supplies were closed off.
A shortage of supplies was conceivable.
****
Last night we had peace and stillness.
There was a bright moon bathing everything in white light and I stepped out onto the porch with Audrey and a sleepless Alex to look at it.
I woke up to a bright sunny day having slept well.
It's warm out and the birds are foraging in the grass and tending to their young.
Nature is so very capricious.
It was a strange, disjointed experience.
Something was off but I wasn't awake enough to figure it out.
Percy regularly patrols his territory around (and including) the house but he always does this in silence during the night.
All of the sudden his footfall was joined by what sounded like a herd of small hoofed animals scrabbling across the front porch and then the windows began to shake and the bed began to move.
I sat up and waited for things to settle down but the shaking grew stronger.
I wandered into the hallway and met Audrey standing there with wide eyes.
Around us the walls pulsed and the floor heaved. The overhead lights swung wildly back and forth.
"It feels like we're at sea," Audrey said.
The rolling sensation continued accompanied by the screams of Percy.
Nick was only partially awake to these events and Alex slept through them.
I spent the rest of the night riding out aftershocks and refreshing the browser on my computer so I could keep up with the news about the quake.
I worried about the issue of a tsunami warning and wondered about the untold damage being done.
Reports of destruction came from Wellington, Kaikoura and Waiau.
The earthquake registered as a 7.5 and the epicenter was very close to my uncle's property in the Hurinui district.
As dawn approached the house continued to tremble with aftershocks and news of landslips, fallen masonry and two fatalities trickled in.
The next morning was sunless and dreary. I slept through most of it and the afternoon trip to the grocery store with Nick felt unreal.
It seemed like a slow apocalypse had begun.
Trump had taken the presidency, the sun had disappeared and my part of New Zealand had been torn and shaken to bits.
It was possible this was the beginning of something worse.
I felt the impending shift towards depression.
The routes that allowed trucks to bring in food and other supplies were closed off.
A shortage of supplies was conceivable.
****
Last night we had peace and stillness.
There was a bright moon bathing everything in white light and I stepped out onto the porch with Audrey and a sleepless Alex to look at it.
I woke up to a bright sunny day having slept well.
It's warm out and the birds are foraging in the grass and tending to their young.
Nature is so very capricious.
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| Percy on Patrol |
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