As July wraps up there is a great deal to report from Scituate Light.
A rainy and cold Independence Day set the flowers back while helping the new lawn in the kitchen courtyard to flourish. I cut some of the damaged flowers back and they have come roaring back.
One of the goals of the summer was to build a garden for my predecessor here, Ruth Downton. The plans were set aside for this summer due to circumstances unforeseen. What happened instead was that I made a down payment with a small garden added around the stone dedicated to Ruth's husband George. I have prepared some signage to be mounted on the fence as well and I am working on getting those printed. The complete package will be in place next spring.
The full moon has become an occasion when crowds gather as a matter of routine. Sometimes I wonder what the fuss is about but the last two months have seen full moons that were easy to photograph and had a different effect on the sky.
We have also have some thunderstorms that have created opportunities for photographs and video.
Take a peek. We were visiting in Marshfield when this storm rolled in and used a big pile of towels cleaning up when we got home too late to close the windows.
Another twist to the month was this visit of what was described to me by my bird expert Steve Maguire as a Rock Pigeon. Birds are not a field in which I have much knowledge and Steve stepped up when I sent out the call for an identification.
One of the projects I have enjoyed as much as any has been the taking of old 4 by 4 pieces and working them into lookalikes to the old buoys that were here when we arrived and that wind and weather have beaten up and rotted away. I bought an electric planner for the wood working and have been using up old paint colors. Cleaning out some stuff from the different corners in which I have stuffed it all was another target this summer. This project has been one way to do it.
The other way I have tried to reduce the burden on the bookshelves was the building of a Free Library box that is mounted on a post at the end of the driveway. I own a lot of books. More than 5000. I have to winnow that down somehow and feel good about it at the same time. This was what I have come up with in the short term. Come on by and see what you might take away to help the cause. I have just pulled 25 more out to rotate through in the next few days.
Another effort was the writing and the mailing of the latest Scituate Historical Society newsletter. The focus was on the events of 1971 and featured a report by Carl Chessia on the work of the DPW all over town and from the Society President Kathleen Laidlaw on their projects highlighting the renovation of the Mann House. Please consider joining the Society and you can do that very easily by following this link.
A final story to share begins about 3 weeks ago when Michelle Seghezi who serves as secretary to the Town Administrator sent an email about a filming application that had been filed. The group had been hired by the New England Patriots to create a short video to run before home games in Foxboro. I had the chance to clarify the parameters and the group was completely cooperative in those conversations.
The night of the shoot was windy but they arrived with two drones and a hand held camera to get the footage they needed.
Family lore has it that I was taken to the first Patriots game wrapped in a red tartan blanket we still have somewhere. I know it to be true that the doctor that delivered me was the brother of the original owner of the team, Billy Sullivan. Billy Sullivan also belonged to the golf club where my grandfather was a member for years and years. The voice of the Patriots in the mid 60's was another Bob Gallagher who lived here in Scituate and whose kids went to school with my sister Christine and me. I still have a poster of Jim Plunkett somewhere in storage. I am still furious at the refs for the roughing the passer call. The tuck rule and all that followed might have offset that some but I can still hate the Raiders and the the Colts and the Steelers and Broncos for beating up my luckless, hapless Patriots in the 70's and 80's. I have held season tickets with my guys since 1993. We bought them four days after Bill Parcells was hired by James Orthwein (and who remembers that guy now?) (For a sense of just how bad things were then follow this link to copy of Sports Illustrated from 1992 with an article by Leigh Montville titled the Patsies: it also includes an article titled, Its Good to be OJ.)
All that is prelude to this video shoot wrapping up and my asking innocently if I could hold the helmet that was used as a prop. I think it was set on the revetment and lit up by drone with the Tower as a back drop. I was told yes I could but to hold on there was something else for me to see.
The first was large but not unwieldy. The last was like wearing a baseball.
As they put them on I began to laugh and couldn't help myself.
I had tricked myself out in a little old school Patriots swag and I laughed and laughed at the good luck that had fallen in my lap.
Below is a video I took of what the shooting looked like from the side.
The one piece of misfortune that occurred as the Patriots crew was shooting was that the bulb in the Lighthouse blew out. They were able to do what they needed without it but I was horrified after agreeing to help out and then not being able to follow through completely. I still am horrified.
Who knows what August will bring. Luminaria is next Friday and we will mask up once again and open the Tower for tours on Saturday and Sunday. We are keeping the Cottage to ourselves for now until the numbers indicate we have the virus on the run again. The picture below is of the milk and water jugs that are filled with sand and candles and placed so that the jetties and beach are lit up along with the rest of the coast during a boat parade out of Scituate Harbor.
The next day began with a call in the our electrician. He arrived and tended to a parking lot light that was out and a light that shines on a plaque describing the building of the Light and the Army of Two. He handed off a new bulb to me and I got things squared away. There was a brighter light last night with the lens cleaned and the brand new bulb.
The final shot is a glimpse of a perfect day. You will want to look at each of these in a full screen.
