Last night marked the solstice, the longest night of the year. People gathered at the lighthouse, and we built a fire in a chimenea outside on the deck. Hot soup, mulled wine, spicy hot chocolate. Today, while outside tidying up from last night’s party, a tugboat sounded
Read more →While tidying up the kitchen, I heard a thump at the window. I put my face close to a window pane and looked down. On the snow below was a chickadee, stunned. I went outside to check on the bird. It stood with its beak agape and
Read more →A door needed repairs. I don’t have adequate workspace at the lighthouse, so I took the door over to Dock’s. He has a nifty shop, which is heated by an old pot-belly stove. When I arrived, Dock was eating his breakfast. I joined him and Kate at
Read more →I wonder how many keepers kept written logs like that when the job was more common. Maybe you can find earlier versions of you from a century or two ago. Initially, I was inspired to start keeping a logbook of my own after perusing an official log
Read more →This is what the lighthouse looks like after a snowstorm. Last night, I measured 9 inches of snow outside the front door. The snow started yesterday morning. Yesterday afternoon, sitting by the coalstove in the parlor for warmth, I looked out the window and watched the river
Read more →In answer to a question, I recently posted that the lighthouse has a total of “thirty-nine steps” (which is also an Alfred Hitchcock movie). However, an observant reader pointed out that I failed to count the stone steps along the side of the limestone plinth leading from
Read more →Two diving birds swam together in the creek. I observed them through a scope to get a closer look. Upperparts were gray overall with white underparts. Their bills were pale gray, and the feathers on their backs were edged with white which made a regular checkered pattern.
Read more →Before the the creek and river ice over, the barge and floating dock must be put out of reach of the ice to avoid damage. This year, we got caught off guard. Last week, I measured the water temperature at 38 degrees, but a string of nights
Read more →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
Read more →