Prose for Thought | In Transition – Preparing for an international move (whilst the ground shakes beneath us!)

It’s pretty crazy in beautiful New Zealand right now. We’ve had some big wobbles in the shaky isles, which have been rather unnerving – but that goes with the territory here! This map, from GeoNet, shows all the quakes from Friday 21 July up until earlier today (Tuesday)…

Pretty crazy amount of activity. We live in Wellington and have felt the quakes greater than 4.5 – particularly the shallow ones. Thankfully we are personally all fine and had no damage to our property. The central city has been affected the worse, with older buildings – many on reclaimed land (that was uplifted in the huge 1855 earthquake), obviously being the most affected. Nevertheless, the damage is minimal compared to what could have eventuated if a high magnitude quake struck under central Wellington. The epicentre of these quakes has been nearer Marlborough, in the upper South Island.

So, whilst the earth shakes beneath our feet, we are counting down to our move to California (another earthquake prone zone) – with just two weeks to go. Naturally, this is a crazy time for our family. Here’s a little poem to express a few feelings of being ‘in transition’.

In Transition

I can feel myself shutting down
it hurts to think and feel.
What to take, what to leave
I wish I could temporarily put emotion
in a cardboard box.

Leaving our home for a while, not for good
What will we take for a year, maybe more?
What will help us feel connected to home
without weighing us down from enjoying the now?

Thank goodness for technology
to keep dear friends close
for our children to talk with their friends
across time zones, oceans and continents.

So grateful for caring friends
helping to lighten the emotional load.
I’m living off chocolate & wine
in between chamomile tea and going nuts.

Swinging between extremes. The earth shifting
beneath our feet, giving us a send off.
Thousands of miles from Wellington, New Zealand,
but still on the ‘Pacific Rim’ we’ll be.

Away from our home of many years
the birth place of our three children
to a place so much closer to my place of birth
the UK, and many whom we hold very dear.

Have to remember the positives
when the emotions of leaving become too much
This is only farewell, we shall be back,
but this is no fairground simulation.

A few tears between the smiles
some screams, blended with laughter.
We will pull through, of that I am sure –
but bear with us in transition!

• Sarah Lee, 25 July 2013

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