Two minute silence – inside the Christchurch cordon

The idea of inviting eveyone in the Loop to share today’s two minute silence came to me in the wee small hours.   I rang a couple of friends (I did wait until 8am) who agreed it was a good idea.  They contacted some people and I doorknocked around the southern side of the Loop.  This was an interesting exercise with so many places red-stickered and about five out of every six apparently empty.  I found that some people are living in houses that have been yellow-stickered.  It seems the rules are being relaxed, perhaps because there is so little capacity to house people elsewhere.

At 12.30pm a group assembled in Walnut Tree Park and introduced themselves.  We were joined by some City Council workers – a total of about twenty-five.  We all held hands in a circle and the Town Crier rang his bell to signify the beginning and end of the two minutes.

The Town Crier rang his bell

It was an emotional time.  I’d taken sheets of paper intending to ask people to share their contact details, but it just didn’t seem appropriate.  We will repeat this event every Tuesday afternoon until the emergency is lifted.  If you’re inside the cordon please join us.