I don't mean to dwell on what happened off the coast of Newfoundland yesterday but it is savaging us. We remain today, even in this global world, a tight-knit community whether you live on the island or off, you are not liberated from the horror.
Six degrees of separation doesn't apply in Newfoundland - it may be three degrees. After the original post on this nightmare I learned that a dear friend's uncle remains lost at sea, a client of my firm's has already had an employee perish in the crash, another compatriot who I played rugby with has a mate missing in the North Atlantic and finally a chum from Calgary tells me some sons of the Southern Shore where she is from are also unaccounted for at this hour.
As this paper's coverage pointed out this morning, the pilots of helicopter sent out an urgent distress message. That call has now gone far beyond the peril of the pilots and crew of the helicopter. It is the state of the place that yet again has been slammed hard by the omnipotent force of the North Atlantic Ocean.
We have our own provincial anthem. It is fittingly called the Ode to Newfoundland. Borrowing the refrain from the Ode, may this be the rallying cry for this day and the days ahead:
"As loved our fathers, so we love, Where once they stood we stand, Their prayer we raise to heav'n above, God guard thee, Newfoundland..."