Day 31, 1 July 2015

0 visitors

Cynthia Repairing the Flag

Our last morning dawned too early with the fog thick as usual. I raised the flag for the last time and admired her straight, perfectly trim edge with no tears as she unfurled in the breeze. Fred called Karen about bringing in the income from sales and donations. Karen was at the museum and we had time before the tide rolled in to go over to the museum. I picked up few more items including a coveted denim shirt with the lighthouse embroidered on it. We then went a few blocks over to the downtown area where I went to pick up a unique jacket I saw at a neat ladies store. I found the jacket but decided to get a dress instead that was very unique in black with red, gold, black patterned ribbon stripes that made it very figure flattering with a black ribbon tied for a belt. We went on back to the parking lot and had a little time to look for the elusive agates before the water started to cover the dragon’s back. We found a few precious gems and got over in time and climbed the hill. It was our final time to have the island to us till the tide went out in the afternoon. I made some bacon, cheese, egg English muffin sandwiches for breakfast and got to use up some final foods. After breakfast we continued to finish packing up stuff and gathering belongings. We did some final laundry and vacuumed and cleaned up the house. Mike called us to check on our departure time, since he would be taking over for 3 days with his mother till Dottie could come over for the 4^th of July. The new keepers wouldn’t arrive till July 6. I worked on yesterday’s blog and Fred worked on our month’s summary that was requested by Dottie. I did manage to go up in the tower for a last visit with the lens and to take in the spectacular views. I wiped down the windows and lens and relished seeing the waves sparkling in the ocean in the bright sun.

Battery Point Lighthouse From the Oceanside Motel Beach

I could see people gathering to come over across the isthmus since the dragon’s back was emerging from the tide. There goes our blissful solitude and serenity. At around 4 pm we took our first load out to the car by using the quad. It was fun to sit behind Fred as he drove the quad down the hill and over the ocean floor with everyone staring at us. Mike showed up with his mom and made a delivery of their stuff with the quad. While in the parking lot putting our stuff in the car, I noticed a local man sitting at the picnic table with his painted rocks and visors. I had noticed him before during the month and wanted to get a rock with the Battery Point Lighthouse on it. I did not see the rock I wanted and asked the man about it. He said he would have some for the weekend. I told him wistfully that I would not be here and that I was the keeper of the lighthouse and would be leaving very soon. He said he had some visors with the black outline of the lighthouse on it. He then just gave me one! I asked how much they were and he said $3 but mine was free. What a sweet gesture. My purse was still in the house and on my last run out I planned to give the man $5 for the visor. I said goodbye to Mike’s mom and we had one last run with the quad with the rest of our things. I went over to the man at the picnic table and gave him $5 and thanked him for the visor. I told him that I was an artist also and appreciated his work. He shyly looked at me and smiled.

One of our Last Views of the Lighthouse

After stuffing the car with all our things, we went back to the museum to hand over two envelopes and our keys back to Karen. We said our goodbyes and drove off to do a few more errands. We drove back to the Oceanside Hotel near the lighthouse where we parked the car during our month duty. We heard they had good food and we had a very nice dinner in a sunny dining room with a beautiful view of the lighthouse. After dinner we took a walk on the beach looking for more agates and enjoyed the different views of the lighthouse from a different angle. We finally drove off and left Crescent City in the late evening sun. As we climbed the hill south of town, I got one last glimpse far in the distance of a tiny island with it’s tiny lighthouse and trees just a faint silhouette in the deepening evening mist.

So ends our month of duty at Battery Point, which went by so fast and has left us with so many good memories. We also got to know the local areas and people a little more even though we have been visiting them for many years. It is a little different when you live in an area for a time, even if it is just a month. We got to check out more towns, restaurants, businesses, beaches, forests, trails and attractions and in the process learned about the local attitudes, culture and life. We got to meet people from all over the world and continued learned how to deal with people in a hosting capacity, dealing with retail and the care of another unique lighthouse and grounds. All our lighthouse adventures have built upon each other and helped us deal with anything that comes along. We look forward to our next new lighthouse adventures with fond memories and thoughts of our beloved sentinels who we will also return to as keepers of the lights.

Day 30, 30 June 2015

23 visitors

We will Miss Her!

Our last full day here opened up in the fog. I raised the flag and fed the seagulls. Since the tide was still out for a bit I crossed over and looked for agates. I looked for 45 minutes till the tide started to cover up the dragon’s back. They weren’t easy to find but when the skies brightened with the sun I was able to finally see the yellow-orange, jelly-clear agates and found about 8 very small ones.

I crossed on the dragon’s back and went on up the hill to the lighthouse. We had a breakfast of leftover popovers and biscuits with fruit. We started some packing and gathering up of possessions.

We took a break and caught up on the soap operas. I got some good knitting in and we had a lunch of French bread pizzas. A shower and more packing was done.

The Lighthouse Caught with its Light On

At 3pm we decided to open up and give a few tours since there were people about. We were posted as closed on the schedules but when we opened the door and asked people if the wanted tours they were so excited and happy. The first group was a family of 4 from Massachusetts and were so grateful for a tour. Dottie’s neighbor showed up with family and were very happy to get a tour also. I got a phone call from the incoming RVer’s and they asked if they could come over to look around with some family and I told them that I could give them a tour. So the new RVer’s got to hear the tour twice from bottom to top and would be more comfortable and ready to give tours themselves. Fred mowed all the lawns and did some weed whacking to clean up the grounds for the next keepers.  We closed up at 6 pm and got some leftover rosemary chicken with yellow rice for dinner. We boiled two ears of corn after the chicken and had those. I took down the flag and decided to repair her and sewed on it for about 3 hours while watching Erin Brockovich movie on TV and the news. I wanted to get that done before I left, since she was a bit tattered. Hopefully this will make her last a bit more. I repaired the flag at New Dungeness one evening a few years ago – another duty for a lighthouse keeper to do, lovingly for Old Glory.  It was getting late and I fell asleep in the comfy lazy boy upstairs. I awoke at 3am!  Yikes, I washed up and crawled into bed at 5am for some much needed sleep. It was very foggy outside when I looked out the windows. The night before I took a walk around the lighthouse and gazed upon the light as she came on for her brief 3.5 seconds. I could see the dark lines in the fog from the supports in the lantern room. There was the undulating fog wavering through the light for that brief time and it was the same as I had seen at Seguin in Maine. I love that view of the eerie fog passing through the emitted light – like ghosts flying about. I captured it in a painting I did while on Seguin.  So off to sleep I went seeing the faint glow of the dutiful little lens reflected out the window when she came on. Soon daylight started to emerge as I spent my last night’s sleep on this special spot in the sea. How we will miss her and look forward to taking care of her in the future.

The Double Barrel Sixth Order Lens

Day 29, 29 June 2015

90 Visitors

After my fitful sleep I got up just after 7 am to make my popovers for a nice breakfast to send Kim off for home. It takes 40 minutes to cook them plus time to prepare them. They turned out pretty good and we enjoyed the popovers with butter, honey and jam. We needed to get Kim off before 9 am so she wouldn’t get her feet wet. We walked her over to the parking lot and Fred got her car that was parked down at a local hotel. After hugs goodbye Kim left us and we walked back to the beach and we looked for some of those jelly looking agates before the tide covered up the beginning of the dragon’s back. I did manage to find one tiny agate – success!  We climbed back up the hill with people milling about as usual trying to see the lighthouse and snap pictures. Right at 9 am the Japanese tour bus showed up for it’s usual stop. They all came piling out of the bus and wandered down to the dragon’s back to cross over. They obviously didn’t know the tide was coming in. We got back to clean up the dishes and for me to finish my Chai tea. Our view of St George lighthouse was the clearest yet and through binoculars we could see details of the lonely sentinel. I could see she needed a new coat of paint, remnants of the boom, light through the lantern room and even waves splashing up at her rock base. It was as if you could reach out and touch her.  We did a few chores and watched as the busload milled about taking pictures. There were a few other visitors as well and we chatted with one couple that were going up the coast and looking at lighthouses.  The lady asked about getting a stamp in her lighthouse passport for Battery Point and we said sure. Fred brought them into the gift store and stamped Battery Point and St. George into her passport. The tide was really coming in now and everyone went down to cross over. We sat and watched the show. The dragon’s back was getting covered up and there was soon a long line on it to get across. Most people were taking their shoes and socks off since it was almost knee deep at the other end. We watched everyone get across safely and returned to the house.

Asian Tourists trying to get back to the Mainland, Tide comes in Very Fast

Our tours wouldn’t start till 2:30 pm and we did a few more things before taking naps. I laid down for ½ hour and couldn’t sleep so I got up and took a shower and got ready for the afternoon tours. For lunch we had leftovers of my mango pork and chicken broccoli casserole. We decided to open at 2 pm since we were ready and people were milling about.

I handled the gift shop and Fred started the tours. Multiple groups started to form immediately and Leon and Terrie showed up just in time to help us with the crowds. We went non-stop through 6 pm. We got to say goodbye with hugs to Leon and Terrie when they left at 4pm since this was our last day to work together. They had to pack up their RV and leave first thing the next morning.  They left us a card and little gift and I gave them a baggie with two cheese biscuits and popovers to enjoy. We were a good team and worked hard for our month duty together. We have exchanged addresses and hope to visit each other in the future. We are less than two hours away from each other in southern California. They left about 5pm and we finished up the final tours. Whew, our month of tours was done. Tomorrow we are closed due to tides and have the entire day to pack up and get ready to leave this beloved place. The time has passed so quickly and we will have our wonderful memories of our time here. We are looking forward to returning in another season to experience different weather conditions.

St. George Lighthouse in the Distance

Photo of St. George Lighthouse Taken from the Web

After closing shop we relaxed outside and looked to the north to see St. George still clear and beautiful. How we would love to go out there and see her. After reading and looking at pictures in a book about her, I really have a better understanding of her and would like a visit to complete the pictures in my mind and the yearning in my heart to experience this mysterious and forbidding place. We took our walk down to the isthmus and poked around the gravel patches for agates and interesting stones. The sun was beginning to set but there was a thick massive cloudbank that obscured our orange ball of life. All we had was a thin layer of orange light that was between the cloudbank and sea which lasted for just a bit. Later there was bit more color but for only a few moments.

The Thin Red Line of Sunset

I watered my plants and found a cute little Banana Slug by my Forget-me-notes.  It was the official end of yet another day in paradise. We came back inside and I worked on two blogs while Fred tallied the day’s sales and made a nice salad that was our dinner. Later we had some chocolate ice cream and off to bed. How melancholy we feel as our last days are upon us and we dread the sad packing and collecting of our things to leave. We can only imagine what the Jeffrey’s felt after spending 39 years upon this indelible rock in their beloved lighthouse home. We now have an inkling of what they might have felt to be a part of history in this tiny adored sanctuary of both incredible beauty and serious duty.

Slug and Forget-Me-Notes

Day 28, 28 June 2015

132 Visitors

The "Dragon's Back," the Last thing to be Covered as the Tide comes in

The morning was the usual overcast and fog but it brightened up quickly. I decided to make the cheese biscuits from Red Lobster. I brought one batch and added the cheese and water to make the delectable pillows of delight. What makes them perfect is the herb/salt packet that you mix with butter and slather all over the biscuits. As we were eating our delicious biscuits we noticed someone ran down to just below our window of our old radio room where we have our personnel space. We both stood up at the same time to see a young boy taking a leak. Fred rapped on the window and we yelled at the little brat. He looked up at us in udder surprise, zipped his fly and ran off. We hope he peed on himself. We can imagine where people relieve themselves on the island since we have no public bathrooms, which is clearly stated in signs before people reach the lighthouse. Some don’t seem to use the bathrooms in the parking lot before they come over here and others can’t read.

Kim let us know she would show up shortly after our opening time of 1 pm. She had lots of reminiscing to do at her alma mater. We started our tours just a bit before 1pm with the help of Terrie and Leon, our faithful assistants. It was a very busy day with the glorious sunshine and I organized the groups with military fashion and humor and politeness. Even though Terry and Leon left at 4pm, we stayed open till till past 5 pm to accommodate everyone. We had good sales on merchandise and we were exhausted at the end of our duty.  In the middle of it, all our dear friend Kim showed up and I couldn’t give her a welcome hug for awhile. She entertained herself and explored the tiny island and even helped with the crowds. Mike, a local dedicated volunteer, popped over to check about an air mattress he wanted to use while he would be here the beginning of next month filling in for the keepers until they show up. When he came to briefly chat with me he handed my 3 pretty little agates that he found on the beach when he crossed over. We have been looking but didn’t find any. He seems to have a keen eye to spot them. He came to work on our days off and we never got to work with him. I told him the next time we were here we would work with him. 

Surf Scoter (Picture Taken by Drew)

Everyone was out by 5:30 pm and we got to finally chat with Kim.  We were starving but snacked a bit and started happy hour. Kim and I went to the lantern room to watch the views. The last stragglers were crossing over on the dragon’s back (sewer line) and Kim and I watched them while Fred watched them from a bench outside. They were trickling back when we noticed a couple sitting down on the rocks and just milling about. Fred went down to check on them and came back to his bench. He motioned to us that they were drinkers. After everyone had crossed they were still there hanging around. We then watched as the woman tried walking over the dragon’s back, which was half covered by the tide now. She fell down into the deeper water a few times and her male partner just stood and watched and didn’t try to help. By this time Fred had called 911 and they connected him to the Sherriff’s office and he explained who he was and where and what was going on with these two. We were concerned about them hurting themselves as well as others if they got into a car and drove off so intoxicated. The woman finally got across but was soaked from falling multiple times. A good Samaritan tried to help the man across and by then the police had shown up and were waiting for the couple to cross. When they crossed over, we saw the man being handcuffed and police escorted the woman to their squad cars in the parking lot. Fred told us that they were very drunk with very slurred speech and they had multiple bottles of alcohol. Just one other thing we had to deal with out here to keep people safe and our lighthouse secure. Its just part of our job out here.

24 inch Thick Granite Block Walls of the Lighthouse

After the show with the drunks we went back inside and I started dinner. I cooked up rosemary chicken with mushrooms, garlic, onion and white wine.  I also cooked up some of that yummy yellow rice that Cathy had with her fish tacos. It sure tasted good with rosemary chicken piled on top. After dinner we relaxed upstairs and chatted a bit.  Fred showed pictures of when we first arrived here and up to the present. We lasted about an hour and off everyone went to sleep while I stayed up to catch up on the blog. I wrote one day’s blog before getting too tired to continue. Off to sleep I went but couldn’t sleep well since I knew I had to get up at 7 am to bake my popovers. I wanted a nice breakfast to send Kim off on her way. She could only stay one night with us and she needed to get back home to Denver. We wished she could have stayed longer but treasured her precious time with us. I finally fell asleep thinking of puffy, buttery popovers that I hoped would come out perfect and not get stuck in the pan like last time when I didn’t have any Pam to use.

Unusual Sunset

Day 27, 27 June 2015

96 Visitors

Stairway from 1870 that leads up to the Cape Blanco Lighthouse

Today was our day off but we had to get up early in the cool overcast conditions and get off the island by 8 am before tides came in. The water was ankle deep at the very end of the sewer line walkway and I put on my Keene sandals to get across and saved my sneakers from getting wet. We went to the Apple Peddler in town for breakfast and we got their senior French toast breakfast combo. It was a nice smaller serving which was perfect for us. We took off north for Oregon and headed for the Point Blanco Lighthouse near Port Orford. We had camped here a few years ago but the lighthouse was closed at the time.

Cape Blanco 2nd Order Lens, It is 6 to 7 feet tall

It is the tallest lighthouse above sea level in Oregon and has a beautiful 2^nd order Fresnel lens. We were lucky to get a tour with just the 2 of us. They gave us a little history at the bottom of the lighthouse and then we climbed the wrought iron steps to get to the base of the great lens and then we continued up to see her up close. She was very pretty and slightly smaller than the 1^st order lens on Seguin. This rotating lens was installed in 1936 and operated with electricity. The lighthouse was built in 1870 and initially used an oil lamp to light a different 2^nd order lens, which didn’t rotate. This light is still run by the Coast Guard and has been in continuous operation since 1870.  Except for the light, a local non-profit group maintains all the buildings and grounds.  This is the way it was at Seguin Island last summer.  It was fun to see her and chat with the volunteers who worked there.

The Paris Made Lens was Produced in 1935.  Germans in WWII destroyed the
Lens Factory and it Never Reopened

We got some things in the gift shop and went on down the road to tour the Hughes house, which was where one of the keepers lived. It was decorated in the Victorian style and was very interesting to see. We got a phone call from Kim that she was in LA and trying to get up to Arcata via San Francisco. We went to the small fishing dock at Port Orford and had lunch a tiny restaurant, Griffs on the Dock, where I had a yummy crab melt sandwich as we gazed out the windows at the sea. We drove on south where we stopped for a half hour walk on the beach where we saw a nice arch not too far from shore and other neat rocks. A stop for adult beverages was made just over the border at a discount liquor store (it claimed to be the 8^th wonder of the world on its billboard) and onward we went to Crescent City where we made a stop at Safeway for a few groceries.

Cynthia by the Lens, It was Great they let you get that Close, Look but don't Touch

We got to our lighthouse crossing at 5:15 pm and the end of the sewer line was just out of the rising tide. People were leaving and teetering across the line and we made it across without getting our feet wet. People were still coming and going for a short while but it was nice to slip back into our historic abode and unpack our groceries and check on things. From the record of sales, it seemed to be a lighter crowd that showed up for tours and we think the weather stayed cloudy all day. We did get sunshine eventually in Oregon. I restocked a little in the gift shop and we had some cheese and crackers while we watched two episodes of our soap opera to catch up. The sunset wasn’t much and we relaxed in the evening with a bit of TV. Kim finally called us to tell us she made it to Arcata – yea!! She would drive up to the lighthouse tomorrow after getting a rental car. She had a few other things to do since this was where she went to college at Humboldt State. It was great to hear that she would be coming for a short visit. We were tired again from getting up early and our fun day. Off to sleep with dreams of rainbow prisms from a giant sparkling gem, turning gently to keep a guiding eye upon a foggy point and give quiet guidance to all who need her in a turbulent and unforgiving sea.

Cape Blanco Lighthouse after the Fog had Lifted