Beaches and lighthouses… and exploration and memories

Let’s explore that trail and see where it goes.

Okay; well, that didn’t take long.  The trail stops at a garbage can!

...

We had scheduled a beach day for the last day of September. 

 

Beach walking - a couple miles of it.

Beach sitting and relaxing.

The traditional bucket of chicken...

A bit of exploring - mostly ending up on dead-ends with “no outlet.”

Lots of comfortable conversation and camaraderie.

Reminiscing on old times and speculating on future times.

…

We never did find the lighthouse we were searching for.  Some would say that a trail ending at a garbage can should have served as an omen.  Others would say that at the very least it was an enigma.

Either way it added humor to the adventure. And I think we’ve learned by now that exploring need not be fruitful to be fun.  And that adventures most certainly do not always go as expected.  We didn’t find THIS lighthouse, but we are grateful for all the others we’ve visited and especially the one we lived in for a couple weeks!

On this day, snippets of life

Yep, I really like FB memories - not only because they remind me of places we’ve been and people we’ve seen, but also of thoughts that we have pondered.  Things that have entertained me, things that have upset me and things that have motivated me.

This date, September 20, has provided a variety of some such people, places, events and thoughts through the years.  

The thoughts expressed here are not necessarily my own but obviously have gotten my attention through the years and have caused me to ponder - and hopefully to become a wiser person for the effort.

Here we go...

... on this day

2009

I am thoroughly enjoying the last day of summer. Mmmm......... Everything is beautiful.

2012

Thankful Thursday:

I am feeling thankful that I got to see my grandkids today for a bit.

AND I get to see ALL THREE daughters this weekend!!!

2013

If I had a year…

Anne Lamott:  Someone asked me the other day how my life would change if I only had two weeks to live. I said I would definitely eat a lot more creme brûlée, and not floss at all. But I don't think it's the right question.

The better question is, What would you change about your life if you had a year or so to live? Of course you would have to floss, or you would become repellant with your oyster-y breath; and you'd probably have to limit yourself to one creme brûlée (or two) a day. But would you write? Would you exercise? 

I would not write for publication, that's for sure. Stitches, the handbook on meaning, hope, repair, will be my 15th book. It's a little unseemly to keep cranking them out. It's unnecessary for me to keep publishing. Besides, I always say the same things: you are loved and chosen, a unique, lovely, wild and slightly screwed up creation. Try to get a little writing done every day--it will help you know and forgive yourself, which is why we are here. Earth is forgiveness school. 

...

And yes, I would still exercise. I'd walk the dogs and take myself on a hike in the hills, in the woods and around town, because that is where I most directly experience the divine, in the glories of nature, in breezes, breath and birdsong. I'm amazed on every single walk. Maybe that makes me a simpleton, but Simpletonian principles would be the way I'd want to live my last year.

...

So if you want to have happy, loving feelings, do loving things. That's the secret of life, whether you are at all Jesusy or not. Be of service. Get people water. Clean up the litter on your block, even though there will be more tomorrow. 

...

So that's how I would live, starting right now, if this were Day One; which it is.

2015

Referring to view from our bedroom window - just below the chimney

What an awesome view. The SS Badger is heading out across Lake Michigan past a row of four sailboats as a speed boat zips past all of them. There are several fishing boats spread across the horizon as well.

Photo cred:  Bob Sims at SimsShotsPhotography.zenfolio.com

The storms have passed and left us with gorgeous weather around the dunes and the lighthouse. Our 2-week tour of duty is about half done.

2016

Bob Goff:  Don't let being "right" talk you out of being kind.

…

Ian North:  What degree of racist violence will break our national blindness, bring us to grief, and compel us to acknowledge that black lives matter? 

2017

Winnie-the-pooh:  How lucky I am to have something that makes saying goodbye so hard.

…

Rich Mullins has been gone 20 years but his words live on:  If I want to identify fully with J.C…. the best way I can do that is to identify w/ the poor. This will go against the teaching of a lot of the popular Evangelical preachers, but they’re just wrong. They’re not bad; they’re just wrong.

Christianity is not about building an absolutely secure little niche in the world where you can life with your perfect little wife and your perfect little children in your beautiful little house where you have no gays or minority groups anywhere near you.

Christianity is about learning to love like Jesus loved. 

And Jesus loved the poor and the broken.

...

And there we have it.  

A day's worth of wisdom from some of my favorite modern-day prophets.

And some lovely scenery and fun memories, too.

Amazing Day #16: the little pharologist

Instead of writing a new post today, I'm gonna' revisit one from two years ago today. 

We had finished up our commitment to live and work at the Big Sable Point Lighthouse near Ludington.  

It was a pretty AMAZING opportunity!

While there we met some AMAZING people including several pharologists. (That's your vocabulary word for the day.  Go ahead; Google it) I loved listening to their stories - especially this young one.  Such an AMAZING little guy!

You can read other posts here from our two weeks of working in the lighthouse and living in the keeper's quarters.

The little pharologist

We knew that one of the things I would love about working at the lighthouse would be the chance to meet people. Interesting people. People who are travelers. People who are thinkers. People who love nature and appreciate history.

Sure enough; that was true. I completely enjoyed that aspect of the job - the chance to meet people. Fascinating people. People from all over the world really. I had not realized how far some travelers come to visit Big Sable Point. But yes, we had guests from all over America as well as from Germany, Switzerland, Britain, Brazil, Austria, Canada, Mexico... and more.

Some people are fascinating because of their travels and others because of their interests. Some are learners and some are experts. Most are very open to sharing their knowledge with those who are interested. We learned much simply by listening and asking questions.

And then there are the pharologists. Quite a few of them actually. I even learned that I am a pharologist - someone who studies or is interested in lighthouses. Yep, that would be me. And that would include people who are interested enough that they would choose to walk nearly four miles to visit. People who come back to visit time after time through the years. People who have visited lots of lighthouses - lots more lighthouses than we have. People who have lived and worked at lighthouses.

There was the "real" pharologist, the lighthouse expert. The one who gets paid to travel around and speak to groups about lighthouse history because he has studied lighthouses so extensively.

There was also the "real" lighthouse keeper, Ken, who had lived and worked at Passage Island and Rock of Ages lights in Lake Superior. And I don't mean the way we "lived and worked" at a lighthouse. I mean that he ran the lighthouse when lives depended on the light burning and the fog horn sounding. Oh, my; what fun to listen to his stories - especially some of the close calls on dark and stormy nights!

But my favorite pharologist was only three years old. When his family arrived, he immediately began telling me about lighthouses. Turns out he knows lots about them and has an unusual fascination with them. He could identify pretty much any lighthouse by its picture and pick out the different ones in our display of models. What a neat kid!

Even though like me, his parents had probably never heard the term before, they were intentionally feeding his interest in pharology and had already taken him to several other lighthouses. One can only imagine what may come of this passion so they are treating it as something serious and worthwhile. Good for them!

I had so much fun watching him study the different model lighthouses and play with the magnets. By the way, he also likes boats, too. He had great fun with the magnets of the SS Badger - and he chose the model "with the boat in it" to hold for his picture.

Without a doubt Ben was the youngest pharologist I met and quite possibly one of the most knowledgeable. And certainly the cutest! You and your family made my day, Little Ben! Thanks for visiting Big Sable Point.

...

And a little note to Ben's mom: I hope you didn't give up on me and that you did stick around long enough to find this post. If so, please leave a comment below. And thanks again for a fun day!

The Lighthouse - more stories still to come

It happened again. I got too busy traveling and experiencing life to have time to write about our travels and about life!

It has happened before, more than once in fact, and I'm guessing it will happen in the future.

I want to write more about our two weeks at the lighthouse, but somehow life has happened and miles have been traveled and I haven't been able to keep up with writing about it all.

So if you want to hear more stories about living at the lighthouse, maybe you could leave a comment and hopefully it will nudge me to get some more of them done.

And please stop back again to see whether there are new posts.

Life at a lighthouse

Bob writes about our time at the lighthouse and some of our duties there - the light housekeeping as well as lighthouse keeping.

Daily Tidbits: first week at the lighthouse

Day One - Tuesday, 9-15-15

• We arrived last evening and met our team members. The place is so beautiful. It's hard to imagine we have this amazing opportunity. And so it begins.
• There is WiFi at the lighthouse!!! Wahoo!!! I am downright happy about that.
• After a brief demonstration from one of the other volunteers, I worked the video room most of the morning, re-stocked the cooler, gave tours of the keepers' quarters to some possible volunteer recruits, shadowed someone closing out cash register, learned to open safe. Bob worked in the tower and at various other jobs.
• I am on a steep learning curve! Lots we need to know to be lighthouse keepers. Glad we don't have to haul oil up the tower to light the lamp. Also thankful for a great team to work with and to learn from.
• Exhausted. Feet hurt...

Day Two - Wednesday, 9-16-15

• From our bedroom window, we saw the Badger leaving the harbor on its way back across Lake Michigan to Manitowac, Wisconsin.
• I learned a bit about running the cash register. 

 

Day Three - Thursday, 9-17-15

• Field trip!!! Craziness.
• Somehow Bob and I ended up having the place to ourselves for the evening. The whole freakin' lighthouse and the whole dang beach. How bizarre! Wonderfully peaceful and quiet after having those students here all day. Well, quiet except for the wild wind and pounding surf.

Day Four - Friday, 9-18-15

• Our day off - so we visited the new grand-daughter who is one week old today.
• Stopped at the famous House of Flavors for supper. Fish is excellent.

 

Day Five - Saturday, 9-19-15

• Busy day. I worked the video room all morning, the cash register in the afternoon, and then back to the video room.

Day Six - Sunday, 9-20-15

• What an awesome view. Nine miles to the south, the Badger is heading out of the harbor and across the lake passing a row of seven sparkling white sailboats as a speed boat zips by all of them. Several fishing boats are spread across the horizon as well.
• Lots of interesting and inquisitive visitors came inside and still more lounged outside. On a quick afternoon break upstairs, I glanced out windows to the scene below. Families were sitting and/or playing in clusters on the beach. People strolled along the boardwalks and hiked into the surrounding dunes. So lovely.
• One of my online writing friends came to visit today. It was our first chance to meet face-to-face after corresponding for three years. Fun times. Actually all of us on the team had friends or family visit this evening.

 

Day Seven - Monday, 9-21-15

• Another gorgeous morning - in a long string of beautiful weather. We sure picked the right time of year to be here!
• An interesting day. First visitors were from London, UK, and later some from Winnipeg, Manitoba. Then a keeper from Passage Island and Rock of Ages in Lake Superior. What fun to chat with him.
• It was 2 o'clock before I even knew it - and before I had chance for a break.
• I feel like I'm beginning to understand the process of closing out the cash register. We were one penny off.
• State park ranger, fire and rescue paramedics, and ambulance all showed up in our yard responding to a medical emergency call during the evening. Turns out all is well.
• Finished out our first week with a campfire out on the dunes.

Photo credit: Bob Sims at Where the Robert meets the road.

PJ sunset on the beach

Turns out everybody else on the team had plans for the evening - and we have the place to ourselves. How weird. And how fun!

And that after talking all day to the TWELVE groups of students about what it must have been like to live in a lighthouse. How isolated and remote.

So here we are...

Kinda' fun.

At first all I wanted to do was to sit and relax after a long and exhausting day of work. I didn't want to think about anything. I didn't want to have to figure anything out or solve any dilemmas. I was so tired I barely wanted to eat - and that doesn't happen often. I didn't want to get up and move. I just wanted to get off my feet and do nothing.

I sat gazing out the window. I began marveling at the lonely desolate beauty. At the wonder of it all. How stupendously amazing this is. That we get to live out here in this 15-room house "under the light" as they say in our historical video. And that we even get to have the big old place to ourselves for a few hours. Now 'tis true that we work hard for the privilege. But most of it is fun work - or at least quite interesting.

Here's the deal. I really, really like living where I can hear the waves crashing below our window. And what do you know? Here we are.

Of course, I also love living where I can walk on the beach every day. Unfortunately that part isn't working out so well - partly because the beach is not really walkable here and partly because I have been too busy and too exhausted.

But hey, even as worn out as I am, I can at least go out and sit on a bench for a bit - except that I already put my jammies on. Oh, well; I can go anyway. And so I did.

What a great idea. Wandering on the beach in PJs and enjoying the sunset - just because I can.
 

A big thank you to my photographer hubby
for documenting our time here and our life of adventure.

500 miles, a new baby and being too busy

Yesterday was a big day. I reached a pretty big goal. AND I got a brand-new grand-daughter!!! Big day indeed.

And tomorrow starts a new chapter in our lives - living and working at a lighthouse - so today is not only a big day, but a transitional day. A day when I find myself feeling too busy.

...

Most of my life is pretty simple these days and I don't often find myself being over-busy. I like the fact that I have taken steps to simplify my life and my schedule. I'm grateful that I am able to do so.

Because, you see, for a lot of years I let myself get over-committed and then reaped the results of that. Most people understand the negative results of being too busy - namely stress and irritability as well as the danger of important stuff and people getting neglected. Other effects aren't so obviously negative; in fact, they can seem like positives - at least for someone like me. Maybe I'm not typical, but I have discovered that I was feeding my ego by my busyness. In some twisted way, my busy schedule seemed to equate importance. Value. Worth. The busier I was, the more important I must be; right? If I was "normally" busy, then I was important, but if I was super-busy, then I must be really something. Bah! What a crock!

So anyway, things have changed. I've gradually been learning that my self-worth is not measured by my busyness. And I've learned to love a simpler, quieter schedule.

But..........

This week things have converged to make me feel super-busy for the moment.

Things like a brand-new grandbaby born yesterday!!! Now there's a positive!!!

And tomorrow we start our two-week commitment working at a lighthouse! Yes, that's another positive, but we wouldn't have picked this time frame if we had known about the new baby when we made the commitment a year ago.

...

Here's the thing. This is the first time in a really long time that I have had to pack up to live anywhere other than in our little rig. I may have forgotten how to pack. I'm so spoiled by having everything in its place - no matter where we park. When we pull into a new site and unhitch, my shampoo and toothbrush and underwear and PJs are exactly where I need them. Not so for this coming week. Nope. Instead, I have to try to figure out what in the world I might need and try not to forget anything important. This week I have to live like a "normal" traveler - "out of a suitcase" - which means packing it first.

In fact, that's what I should be doing instead of writing. And so I will. If for no other reason, I want to get that stuff done so that I have more time to hold that little baby and to help her momma. Because that's the important stuff.

Oh, and there is also this...

At the beginning of the year, I committed to walking 500 miles and yesterday I made it to that goal!!! There's another positive. Something simple that I work on every day. And something to be proud of.

Lighthouse keepers in training

We are training to be lighthouse keepers this fall at Big Sable Point Lighthouse just north of Ludington, Michigan.

We met other volunteers and got our first tour of the keepers' quarters where we will be staying.

 This will be our room... with the double windows directly below the chimney in the following photo.