I hear them again. It's frightening!

Back and forth. Back and forth. I've been hearing it now for about half an hour. The sounds of what I presume to be the Coast Guard helicopter. Yes, the thought of what might be happening is frightening.

Did some tourists unwise to the ways of the sea decide to go wading in the surf in the dark, get hit by a higher-than-usual wave, and get pulled out to sea in a rip tide? Did another child get lost along the canal or lake? This is the second time today I have heard one of those helicopters searching. Late afternoon I heard it for half an hour or maybe an hour. I did see it when I drove toward the downtown area. It appeared to be searching over the lake area then. And I met two police cars and a rescue unit coming back from that area several minutes later. I probably won't know what happened until tomorrow or next week when it comes out in our local paper.

Most rescue operations here are in the ocean. With a holiday weekend coming up, when our tourist town bulges with people several times our year-round population, there may be more such rescue units called out. Not all are successful. The sea is powerful. It is to be respected. May God watch over those who risk their own lives to assist in these dangerous rescues.

Yes, may God watch over them. Too many times people underestimate the power of nature, hopefully this holiday it will be better~

I live in a small seaside tourist village too, and it's amazing the amount of people who descend on us during the summer months, and how daft they can be about the dangers of the ocean. Maybe because I grew up next to the water I'm more aware of it, and to people on holiday it's such a novelty that they just don't think.

The fantastic and brave work of the search and rescue teams will certainly be in my thoughts this summer too.

It is frightening. We don't live anywhere near a coast, but get the police helicopters going overhead trying to locate people missing in the local forests or lakes.