Public Acknowledgement

An Eagle Eye and Mountain Experience Were The Keys

Piers Fuller
Stuff

[Jason Diedrichs knows the Tararua Ranges like the back of his hand.  Many owe him their lives.  Unfortunately, this past week this was not to be the case.  But a family was released from the curse of never knowing what happened to a loved on in one of New Zealand's most hauntingly beautiful, yet dangerous national parks.  JD and his colleagues are especially public spirited souls and exceptionally knowledgeable and skilled at what they do.]



Jason Diedrichs ("JD") of Amalgamated Helicopters was the one who first spotted Myers' body.
Piers Fuller, Stuff

A fleeting glimpse of colour that caught a helicopter pilot's eye meant a long, agonising wait for family was almost over.

In many ways the conditions could not have been worse during the 11 days the search was on to find missing tramper Darren Myers in Tararua Range.  His body was found at the bottom of a 6 metre waterfall in Arete Stream on Wednesday in an isolated area almost impenetrable by foot .



Darren Myers' wife Kim Shaw, centre, supported by her sister and brother-in-law Debbie and Duncan Styles,were at search headquarters almost every day since the search began on Sunday, June 2.
Thousands of man hours went into the search but in the end it was the experience and nous of seasoned helicopter pilots which brought the break everyone was hoping for.

Jason Diedrichs of Amalgamated Helicopters and his co-pilot Jamie Hansen had been tasked by planners to do another sweep of the area because of clues that had been discovered in the area last weekend.    The body of Wellington man Darren Myers was found by search teams on Wednesday.
"It was colour that stuck out.  It just looked a little out of place," Diedrichs said when he saw something tucked away at the bottom of one of the many waterfalls

He said it was a sense of excitement and relief when they realised they had likely found what they had been looking for.  "In this particular search it was just relief because it had gone on for so long. I knew the huge commitment that everyone had put in to try and find Darren."  It was only a break in the weather on Wednesday morning that made it possible.  We follow the tasking and use a little bit of initiative along the way and the skills that we may have from working in the mountains all the time."

John Milton, Standing, Waiting, and Serving

The Greatest Sonnet in the English Language

 

Justin Taylor

 

Leland Ryken writes that John Milton’s “When I Consider How My Light Is Spent” is to him “the greatest sonnet in the English language.” During the middle phase of Milton’s life (1640-1660) he focused on supporting the Puritan cause and largely set aside his poetic vocation. By 1654, at the age of 55, he had gone completely blind, and probably composed this sonnet around this time.

When I Consider How My Light Is Spent

by John Milton

When I consider how my light is spent,

Ere half my days in this dark world and wide,
And that one talent which is death to hide

Lodged with me useless, though my soul more bent
To serve therewith my Maker, and present

My true account, lest He returning chide;
“Doth God exact day-labor, light denied?”

I fondly ask. But Patience, to prevent
That murmur, soon replies, “God doth not need

Either man’s work or His own gifts. Who best
Bear His mild yoke, they serve Him best. His state

Is kingly: thousands at His bidding speed,

And post o’er land and ocean without rest;
They also serve who only stand and wait.”

[Grand encouragement for those whose afflictions appear to render them useless to God, in God's Kingdom. Ed]

The S-Files

Reverberations From the Kahui Twins' Inquest

ContraCelsum is pleased to announce an S-Award has been given to Coroner Garry Evans.

The citation has been written by Rosemary Mcleod, opinion writer for the Dominion Post:

I do have a hero in the legal system just now, though. It's coroner Garry Evans, who last week presented his findings, after an inquisitorial investigation, into the case of the Kahui twins. He laid the blame for their deaths on their father who, as we all know, was tried and found not guilty of their deaths.