The Lightkeeper's Blog

This weeks marks the 15th anniversary of our moving into the Keeper’s cottage at Scituate Light. The details are in no way blurry.

The most recent news includes the shroud being pulled from the scaffolding, the fence perimeter being tightened up, and a visit from the Irish Consul of Boston.

We have an uninterrupted view of the ocean again as the fence has been pulled around the scaffolding. The porta potty remains however and that is a temptation for many. I went out and cleaned up the trash that had blown into the roses in anticipation of a storm that blew out to see earlier in the week. The mild winter has been a gift as nothing is frozen in place as it might have been.

Two weeks ago Saturday saw a visit from Consul General, Sighle FitzGerald. We welcomed her into the cottage and were struck by her awareness of all the different sounds we hear around here. I would have liked the gull that often sets up on the chimney to have been on the job that day. It was a pleasure to meet her and all of those that were traveling with her party.

This is the first picture taken as we moved in. The late, and greatly beloved, Ruth Downton handed me the key. That was a good day.

I think only a single item in this picture remains in the kitchen. The stove was replaced when it died on the vine. The dishwasher never worked and I swapped it out for a trash barrel and shelving. The telescope was donated. The bench on the left was converted to a bookcase and is upstairs. The table was sent down the road a couple of summers past. The sign on the left is still there but hung in a different spot.

This image captures a moment from 2010. The Boxing Day Blizzard I have come to call it. Broken fences, a caved in wall on the shed, and this pulled out tooth from the seawall in place since the 90’s. I would have given a lot for there to be a picture of my face when I found this two ton stone vanished. It had moved 20 feet toward the house and pushed 3 others the same size toward the runway.

All through 2011 Sunday night found me at the top of the Tower taking this panoramic shot. The harbor fills up and empties out and it was a cool way to track it across time.

A routine developed shortly after we go here. The prior seawall would be blown to bits by a storm. Some of it would be reassembled and restored to its place. Some of it wouldn’t be. I then head out with a shovel and wheel barrow to scoop up the rest and keep people upright as they walk around out here. The revetment pictured below was built in response to this kind of storm. It has made a remarkable difference. We still get water and debris but nothing like we did. A clean up could take me 10 to 20 hours. Most now are 4 to 5. Vince and David and Dan were fantastic every step of the way.

One of the best and most satisfying things that has happened over the years (and I hinted at it with the mention of the Irish Consul visit) has been the guests from all over the world who have found this place and felt right at home in a minute. The group pictured was from 7 different countries and were traveling under the auspices of the American Field Service. Haley had become jaded by the guests by the point this was taken but when I told her they were from Egypt and Tunisia and Turkey and Indonesia, she was down like a shot and the connection was instantaneous. The mob was out on the big jetty minutes after this was taken.

This photograph captures a event that took place here in the summer of 2013. The battle between the USS Chesapeake and the HMS Shannon was remembered with a great flourish of music and speeches. It was also the first occasion for which I donned the Lightkeeper uniform. I had created a facsimile with different pieces and my legendary sewing skills. I have largely avoided it since.

In this picture you see the Class of 2017 prom. The boardwalk has arrived and it is probably the best thing (other than the regular maintenance) that we have contributed since arriving. From April to October with the pandemic/illness year of 2020 excepted, the walk has given access to the wheelchair bound and to groups like this who are capturing a special day. Thanks always go out the Community Preservation Committee for funding it and to Warren Cowing for building it. The boardwalk will probably go out a bit later this year than it has in others as I will wait until the tower work is finished with the painting.

In March of 2018 there were nine consecutive tides that pushed water at us. This was the most water we have seen here with the built up revetment. The wind broke the flag pole overnight and just as with the pulled tooth picture from 2010 I would have like a shot of my mug when I found the flag pole down. It had withstood the Blizzard of 78, the No Name Storm of 1991, and who knows how many hurricanes. March of 2018 took it down.

Among the most enjoyable things about living here is tending to the gardens around the property and around the parking lot. They have come along way. Ruth Downton was limited by her health; the gardens could not be a priority for her. With better legs I have been able to bring a number of new plants to the Point. Once the Tower project is complete I hope to really bring to life a garden in memory of the work that Ruth and George Downton did here for more than 20 years.

A quick list of bullet points on 15 years here:

There have been a lot of dopes in the parking lot at night. Lots of dopes at every possible hour

There have been cars driving where they were not meant to drive, up on the wall, down the sidewalk, you name it

The wedding parties with sorry bladders and those who arrived simultaneously to battle for the light

Sunsets

Sunrises

Neither are ever to be taken for granted

Luminarias – especially the first one when a red moon rose out of the ocean and 3000 people gasped – what a sound that made

The ricochet of diesel engines from guys trying to make a living on the ocean

The smell of the beach roses and the buzz of the wasps feeding in them

The never ending battle with the spiders in the Tower. The shop vac is an eternal friend

The month we did without water and Julie inadvertently made coffee with salt water when I was too beat to go out and haul in fresh

Chuck from Vareika and his tremendous effort to do everything right during the rehabilitation of the utility room. He was so attentive to every detail and may have spoiled me some

Dick Wainwright and the Tale of the Scituate Lightkeeper’s Daughter

Flying Santa – its a shame that those days are done

Watching a deer swim from jetty to jetty across the harbor

The rust – add it to death and taxes as an eternal thing

The kids that got out of a car with fishing rods right after the harbor master had run people off the rocks in front of the tower during a storm. The wind was blowing from the east at about 30 mph. You could not have put a line in the water with a cannon. They were not on the list of those giving speeches at graduation

The woman tossed from the rocks into the rose bushes by an October wave. I was told later she turned as purple as an eggplant

The nights sleeping on the floor of the kitchen with ceilings caved in from frozen pipes

The uncovered World War Two era movie posters that left me as close to a heart attack as I ever hope to be. I was so excited

The conversations with people from every corner of the world and every walk of life

The improvement in my teaching. I have had a lot of material to organize and with which to grow

The kindnesses of so, so many people when illness hit hard – its hard to express how much that inspires me to do more and to do it better

The generosity of the Stahr family and the luxury of the web cams that generosity funded – and the Raytheon guys who taught me how do rig the whole kit. Good thinking AJ

Our terrific Cedar Point neighbors

The bikers, be they spandex clad or leather covered

The senior classes at the start and end of school years getting a picture on the rocks in the morning

The always patient firemen responding to humidity triggered fire alarms in the dead of the night

The third of July that saw a couple of hundred high school kids in the yard, then on the rocks, then moved on within a half hour. I called it a version of lunch duty at school but with nips

The Christmas wreaths and how people react to them each year. Thanks to Cindy and Ronnie Simon for their help with that task

The Don’t Give Up the Ship flags and the many, many wind beaten American flags

The Edgerton Bell falling into place easier than anything else that has ever been tried here and learning about Doc Edgerton and his motto of “Work hard. Tell everyone everything you know. Close a deal with a handshake. Have fun!”

The riding out of Hurricane Sandy at the top of the Tower with Hales

The walls blooming with a black mold like substance when the seaweed piles up on the beach. This first happened on the morning of an open house and I was sure all anyone would notice was the house smelling like a YMCA pool from the bleach I used to wipe it away

The olive oil freezing in the kitchen cabinet during a power outage before we bought the generator

The bed moving with me in it four days into our tenure. I was watching the Celtics get killed in Cleveland when it happened. I called out to Hales and she said hers was moving too

Lots of kitchen towels lost to bloody shins from falls on the big jetty

A great bunch of kids helping me when a gentleman recovering from a stroke fell on the walkway. They fielded his service dog while I gave the man my attention until emergency services responded. Good lads all

Pulling out all the insulation under the house and finding every kind of dead animal short of the wooly mammoth – there are morgues that don’t smell as bad as that did. The blown in stuff has worked wonders

The woman walking with her daughter in front of the Tower who sprained her ankle. I put her in an office chair and rolled her to her car

Not getting any better at washing windows despite the practice

Little kids on field trips and their amazing enthusiasm for the place

Hearing a lot of things people did not think I heard and seeing things that no one else saw

Loving the storms more than I probably should

Learning so much here and bringing out into the world with this blog.

Thanks for being a reader.