Category: More Logbook
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Question for the keeper: how many stairs?
How many stairs to the top of the tower? No doubt this counts as a Frequently Asked Question. It’s uncanny that the question has been asked by fiction-writers on two separate occasions. Each author has the Saugerties Lighthouse in mind for a setting and contacted me for vital details. So for the benefit of aspiring…
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Question for the keeper: bubbles and sand-ice
This morning, I stepped outside after breakfast to admire the day. Last night, the full moon shone brightly and a cold wind blew fiercely. At dawn, a thin fringe of ice was left on the beach by the retreating tide. Now, as the rising tide submerged the beach, I noticed steady streams of bubbles emerging…
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The Fog
Late last night, I paddled home from Tivoli in my kayak. Setting out onto calm water at slack tide, I anticipated a smooth ride. Usually, I have no problem finding my way. I just aim for the white beacon. Not so on this night. As I made my way across the river, a thick fog…
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Saugerties Lighthouse on youtube.com
Saugerties Lighthouse Winter Contra Dancing at the Saugerties Lighthouse, part 1 Contra Dancing at the Saugerties Lighthouse, part 2
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Question for the keeper: water chestnut
Do you know what those devilish-looking seed heads are? The sharp nut-like items found along the lighthouse trail are the seed of the water chestnut (Trapa natans)–an non-native, invasive aquatic plant species. The seeds seem diabolical if you are walking barefoot and happen to step on one. In many respects, they are a “pest,” but…
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Snow atop Kaaterskill High Peak
It rained overnight at the lighthouse but snowed in the higher elevations of the Catskill Mountains. The clouds lifted this morning and revealed the snow-frosted peaks. The most prominent of the peaks visible from the lighthouse is the Kaaterskill High Peak to the northwest.
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Temperature readings
At sunrise this morning, a layer of frost coated the dock. At midday, the thermometer at the kitchen window read 50 degrees Fahrenheit. The water temperature at the mouth of Esopus Creek was 47 degrees Fahrenheit.
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Comet
Tonight, the skies cleared, which made for spectacular star-gazing. A friend of mine was visiting from Ithaca, so I got out the telescope to show off a few interesting celestial objects. Scanning the night sky for the Andromeda galaxy in the vicinity of the constellation Cassiopeia, I stumbled across something unusual in the constellation Perseus.…
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Last seen…
From the Hudson River Almanac, regarding the black swan at the lighthouse: According to Rich Guthrie (New York’s black swan expert), “This may be the black swan that had been hanging out on the Mohawk River at Cohoes.” Located north of Albany and Troy, Cohoes is over 50 miles from Saugerties.