Guests Arrive

Haley and her friends named them Phil and Donald.

The brutal cold has once again created an ice pack in the bay in front of the cottage and shortly after noon a seal found his way into the middle of it. He was quickly christened Donald when Haley and her friends noticed him up on the ice and we got out the cameras for the shots we share above and below. A couple who joined us noticed the second one up on the jetty. He became Phil.



The faces are amazingly expressive. I had heard such a visitation was a possibility when we moved in a year ago but I had never seen a seal in my years of kicking around the coast. They are roughly four and a half feet long, mostly white with a bleed to black in spots. There is no indication that either was ill, though at the end of the day Donald did not seem to be moving much. We will see what may have happened as the tide returns tonight around midnight. Phil will either have to move or get floated off like a log from his perch on the jetty. Neither made a sound though there was some flapping of the fins.



Cold Day, Cool Happenings.

Post 50

I have been holding off as this is something of a milestone.

This is the fiftieth post on this blog. Who knew? The year has flown by and I have dutifully found a way to convince myself that anyone might be interested in how its going out here on the Point. I have loved the feedback and the chance for some creativity.

The New Year has had me looking around at the cottage for holes to plug and ways to tighten up the joints. With a west wind the house gets cold. It blows right through the dryer vent and takes the utility room down to "can see your breath ..." I am figuring it out and should we track down the storm windows that have been proposed I think next winter will see the house become cozy all the time. We have rearranged the furniture in the aftermath of Christmas and that has boosted the comfort and the utility of all the rooms. I have inventoried all the books too, so I can lay my hands on anything I am looking for when I am looking for it. Good tasks for the stormy days.

There has been some excitement as the weather continues to entertain. Every time I clean off the walkway to the Tower wind and waves toss a new pile of stones back my way. I am sharing a few pictures though to lend a peak at the big jetty with some frosting and another that I am calling "Coming and Going." The bottom one is a neat view of the ice pack from the top of the Tower. I was taking down the wreath and had to grab a camera to get this unusual shot.


I am also adding a couple of pictures sent to me from my friend Dave Sacchitella. He and I took in the disaster that was the January 10 Patriots Game and, beyond his company and the laughs, this was the reward. Turns out Mr. Kraft has a lighthouse too. We might have to invite him over to share notes.



















Just as a reminder - This Saturday night veteran journalist William Ketter is the featured speaker at the Historical Society Winter Dinner Meeting at the Methodist Church on First Parish Road. Call the Little Red Schoolhouse for details.

A Different Day

Yesterday saw our swimmers arrive - high sun and a quick dip and they were on their way. Today brings a different set of circumstances.

Rubble and flood in the parking lot. A massive log that has sat for months where the jetties come together dancing all over the beach landing as the tide turns some 35 to 40 yards from where it sat a mere half hour before high tide. As before the pictures can tell the story.



I will try to put together an image that shows how far this log has moved. It is a massive trunk that five people together could not have moved a foot. All summer long people have posed for pictures on it and used it as a bench for picnics. At 11:45 it was solidly in place as it has been through each of the earlier storms we have had here.At 12:10 it had moved twenty yards and even as the tide began to turn and settle back it kept tossing this massive piece of wood like it was a Lincoln log. It was amazing to watch. It certainly is a different day.

New Years 2010

Another photo entry as the pictures tell the story.
Noon, January 1, 2010.


The only downside was all the swearing going in and coming out.

A Model of Percussion

The wreath remains in place.

The blizzard predicted hit as predicted. While we often recall the times the weatherman gets it wrong rather than right, this time the forecasters had our backs. Nearly every window is bocked with snow blown through the screens. Those that have storms are covered in ice. There is a glaze over the big windows on the Tower that diffracts the gray light as it tries to get in. I will take a look tonight to see what it does to the lighthouse lens as it spins.

I was just out working on the driveway in a scouring wind. The snow is frozen in clumps that I tried to throw up in the air so that the wind would take it toward the ocean. The drifts are being pushed to the south as the gusts have been out of the north and up to 58 miles per hour. You would believe the snow to be hail as it pings off the coat. All night we could hear it upstairs along with a gigantic bass note from the ocean. It was a model of percussion. There would be a pattern of tips and taps on the roof followed by a boom of bass like you might hear on the highway when passed by a seventeen year old in a Firebird. The cottage seemed to vibrate with each thrum.

Blizzard #1 is in the books.

A Wizard with the Blizzard

Why don't they give storms like these names?

We have a blizzard coming and the winds are the first phase. The bow on the wreath is nearly off (again) and the TV crews did a three second stand up on the rocks about 5 minutes ago before running for cover. Jules thought it was lightning ahead of the storm. The shovels and the rock salt have been dug out from storage and we are sitting back, crossing our fingers about holding on to the lights. We have plenty of blankets though, love our PB & J's, are sitting on 10 pounds of fudge made with my mother's recipe, so all things considered, we are set. These are the nights we have been waiting to see. There is magic in the air.

And it might make my wreath disappear.

Ho Ho Ho

Flying Santa is a crowd pleaser.

The annual visit of Flying Santa to Cedar Point just wrapped up minutes ago. For eighty years now Flying Santa has visited Lightkeepers by plane and by helicopter. For more on the story visit Friends of Flying Santa.

A very grateful group met with the Jolly Old Elf and had photographs taken while sharing candy canes.

A funny comment overheard as kids climbed in and out of the aircraft: "You can see Santa any day at the mall, but when do you get this close to a helicopter?" Try this link to see the landing.

Thanks to the Scituate Highway Department, the Scituate Fire Department and Officers McLaughlin and Steverman of the Scituate Police Department. Thanks also to Linda Martin for the photograph of our family.

Photographs by Julie Gallagher.