New Year, New Look

A great number of changes are introduced as we close in on a complete 6 years here at Scituate Light.
The color is the soft green of Irish memories.  The new gadget is an unbelievable act of generosity from two daughters on behalf of their dad's memory.  The Hank Stahr Memorial camera is live for those of you who visit here.  To access it, first read about Mr. Stahr and his love for Scituate and then head through the link on that page using the user name and password.  You will not be disappointed.

The new layout is meant to better highlight the photography here.  We are going to be diligent at providing more and more tales of life at the Light when life is not so busy that sitting here and pounding at the keyboard isn't an extravagance.  The old place continues to teach us a great deal and we continue to figure out ways to share it.

Christmas brings out the Creative

On the top - a Gingerbread house made by long time friend of the blog, Julie Turner. On the bottom - Mat Brown works his magic.

Hope all the visitors here enjoyed their day yesterday and we wish you a successful and happy New Year.

Christmas is Knocking on the Door

The Christmas wreath climbed the Light in a gale yesterday.  I had put together a kit to make the installation easier than it has been in years past and I would say that helped a ton. What hurt was a wind that pushed and turned the wreath around like Nureyev as it made its way up. Once the untangling was seen to, the rest was a snap. 

On an unrelated note:  I believe I will have the cameras back on line by this coming Thursday.  The new router is on its way and with a fiddle here and a wiggle there, I should have all three back streaming.

Flying Santa will touch down on Saturday December 14.  The time is fluid so I will leave it out for now. What is known is that the jolly old elf is expected before noon. This is always a great time for the little ones and for me. 

Knocked Out

A power outage last week took out the cameras.  I have been pressed into service in a couple of out of town settings and did not check out what was working and broken until yesterday.  The router in the the middle of the whole network is broken and in transit to be replaced.  I will see if I can reset the cameras at some point. It could be Wednesday as school has first dibs on my time until then.

I have been able to get on all three cameras from school until today.  I am hearing that others are having problems and will do what I can to take the work out of the process.

A reminder:  The Scituate Historical Society will hold its annual sale on Saturday November 29, 2014 from Noon to 4:00 at the Maritme and Irish Mossing Museum. Author Ted Clarke will be signing his books. Swing by and pick up an offbeat gift for a history buff.

View from the Top is back (Maybe)

The cameras are live though I have had trouble getting them from time to time with all three browsers I have tried.  At school I have all three without a hitch.  Here at home, it has been hit or miss.  This is a shot taken with Lighthouse01 this morning.  Lots of wind and a moderately high tide combine in this picture.

The panning camera requires a user name (history) and a password (scituate). I find that it works best with Firefox or Chrome.  The other two cameras work best with Firefox.  If you use Chrome try to add the extension that mimics Internet Explorer.  If you use Internet Explorer, check your settings for compatibility mode.  I found that brought them in for me.

I am working on getting them to record and when I do I will put some of the recordings up.  I had hoped to have a much improved camera but that opportunity looks like it has gone by the boards. With some patience maybe the chance will come around again.

Just a Heads Up

I swapped routers this week as the one I had in place was two generations old.  I upgraded and the signal all around the house is markedly improved.  The downside is that I have yet to match the cameras with the new router.  I have worked on it all week and have yet to put together the formula that will make this mess the delicious frappe I want it to be.

Lots of wind this week and plenty of noise but no water or debris over the revetment.  While other parts of Sand Hills and Humarock (I was there today) took a hit with seaweed and stone, we were as clean as a hound's tooth here.  Next time someone tells you government doesn't get anything done, remind them about the wall here.

Had to put the heat on for a bit as the wind tore around and I am pleased to say the new windows seem to have made a difference.  It was great to be able to sit on the couch and not have the curtains blow around your head.

I had visitors last Saturday scouting the site for an independent film.  This is a project that was first brought to my attention three years ago.  I had a very nice visit with one of the film makers and her friend. The plan is for shooting to take place here next July.

Lots of feedback from an article marking our five year anniversary here at the Light in the Scituate Mariner.  The link to the article is here. http://scituate.wickedlocal.com/article/20141018/News/141017183  Thanks to Chris Bernstein and his son Abel for getting us in the right light.  I shared this article on Facebook and had more than 5000 see it in a few days.  Students were telling me I was Facebook famous.

Since the last blog post we also had a part in the Army of Two 200th anniversary dinner. More than 100 people enjoyed the hospitality of the Barker Tavern.  Honoree Sis Dowd stole the show when she led the crowd in an impromptu sing along.  Thanks go out to all the volunteers at the Schoolhouse for their work, to Carol Miles for helping me so much with my research, and to Carolyn Bearce who donated several wonderful prizes for the raffle.

A Gift from the Town

Guests to Scituate Harbor will find a gift from the Town of Scituate upon their arrival. Check your hip pocket.

A WiFi network has been established in the last few weeks covering the inner and outer harbor and the Lighthouse park.  We got to play a small part in the occasion.  A few pictures tell the story.

 

These cobwebs are from a trip under the kitchen to help run the new ethernet line from the Cottage to the Tower.

A second line was run from under the house to an access point by the main door.  It is the gadget that looks a great deal like a light but is instead a path to the Internet.

Things got tied together in the office by my desk.  I think I understood every second word.  There are parts of the process that continue to mystify me.





The network connection is called Scituate WIFI.  No password is required.  I expect a lot of Instagrams of Scituate Light to make their way onto the World Wide Web.