Mother Nature sure has a lot to answer for.

And often, a picture is worth a thousand words.

As Canterbury farmers struggle to rebuild their lives, their livelihoods and their land following the gut ripping devastation of the Christchurch quake, it may be of some small comfort to know that their comrades in rural America also faced – and eventually overcame - the fury of an economic disaster - the Great Depression from the stock market crash of 1929 through to America’s entry into the war in 1941.

These images, by photographers of Farm Security Administration/Office of War Information are some of the only colour photographs taken of the effects of the Depression on America’s rural and small town populations.

As you reflect on them, remember these wise words: “This too shall pass.”