Ranana

Last night I found a silver lining: the breaking news on tv kept my mind from the silence of my cellphone. It took a while for me to realise that this is something big, that there are people I love who may have been affected. I sent a text message, and then some emails. I took a look at the news sites - reports were snowballing. There was a thread started on my forums-of-choice. Renee emailed me to let me know that she and Aud are okay. I remembered that Dad and Katy (and therefore Stella, and Guy?) are staying in the country this week. Still I couldn't go to bed.

My flatmates drifted in and out; the tv stayed on. I drove to the servo for cigarette papers. My tea was still hot when I returned.

Today at work I've been glued to the net all day. The immediacy of the news reports, the vast availability of eye witness accounts, photos and other information sources is overwhelming. I have clicked on so many links, read so many thoughts, yet I do not know my own reaction. I know that responses like this make me feel vaguely sick, and those like this give me hope.

As much as I sympathise, it's not real for me. I'm not there, and I can't imagine how I would cope if I was there. I spent my share of time on the tube during visits to London, I never felt quite comfortable with the strange wind currents drying out my contact lenses and my sisters scolding me for staring. Anyway I know everyone's blogging about this. I don't have any new links to offer, nor any geopolitical theories to espouse. It just didn't seem right to bleat on about cakes. Maybe next week.