End of The Year

Where did that go? 2023 must go down as one of the worst years experienced in my life. Hard to believe in February we were knocked over by such a major disaster .By we, I mean the lovely people of Esk Valley,Puketapu,Omaranui,Rissington Awatoto and Pakowhai. All these areas were rural or semi rural and inhabited by great people who value the land and what it produces .People who largely preferred rural living and primary production for there source of income. The similarity of these people came to the fore at a time of extreme pressure and the comaradery immediately apparent saw neighbour help neighbour and each community quickly working to solve difficult situations. It was a pleasure to observe all this new found strength arousing to help friends and neighbours in their time of need. As the year comes to an end it is sad to conclude that there are still many displaced families and residents ,many houses still without any repairs, many properties still displaying damage from the ravages of the flood water. But there is hope. I do not know where people get their strength from.Plenty is going on behind the scenes and come the new year I think things will really start to move along. It will take a few years to restore properties so lets hope this next one is a giant leap towards restoration.