And is there care in Heaven...

An odd mix today.

Living in a little village situated on the edge of a dangerous coastline, things happen. Stuff goes wrong with yachts, with fishing vessels, with swimmers, with visitors, locals - with anyone.

This morning, a boy - a young man, aged 19 - was fishing in the dawn light with a friend, and was caught by a wave and taken in.

And so today, the Lifeboat went out searching, and the gardai brought down another rib boat to help. During the Ireland game, they arrived into Jacobs, forced to call off the search for the day. They'll start again at first light, having worked out tides and currents and probabilities.

There have been a few serious incidents since I moved to this small village, where the work of the Lifeboat is so prominent. I guess what's unfamiliar to me is that life is kept deliberately normal. The issue isn't avoided: it's discussed, then conversation is steered on to something else, something entirely normal and everyday. As though to demonstrate that life is going on. There are still pizzas to order and matches to cheer on and kids setting up the pool table and somehow, the planet is managing to keep spinning on its axis, despite the fact that a boy is out there, lost.