How to commemorate a deadly quake

Walking around Christchurch the other day, the tenacity of the people living here is evident. Red bows hanging off of strengthening and Santa Claus hanging off of cranes.
People were milling around the downtown sector with upbeat and modern "container" culture housing retail and food businesses inviting them to linger.

There is still a fight about saving the heritage buildings. Should they demolish the old and construct new?So many people are in debt from lack of insurance payments, having their paid work be in upheaval, losing their home and having to pay rent to find a place to live. It's all taking a lot of time and patience on the people who remain. So many have just left to other parts of New Zealand or elsewhere...

Last night Wendy and I were talking about making the anniversary of the quake "a day off from work" to give a decent opportunity for the citizens of Christchurch to really honor the people who lost their lives, but go figure the council see's it as "counterproductive". I think it's a good idea to honor all those who are living and making Christchurch a thriving city that it is. When earthquakes happen people have had to sign a paper saying that they wouldn't get paid... shaky times in Christchurch. No wonder that people want to leave. With 95,000 aftershocks and still counting it seems that sometimes not a lot of work is going to get done. Might as well celebrate the quakes instead of mourning them all the time.And no, Mark and I are headed out without having been initiated... our flight leaves in less than a hour.