Author: keeper

This afternoon, I did two things that I’ve never done before. First, I made pasta noodles from scratch. Invited to a potluck dinner at the Germantown Community Farm, I didn’t want to embarrass myself by showing up with store-bought food when there was bound to be a bountiful table of homegrown and homemade eats. So,…

A squirrel ate all my parsley! Last month, with the help of friends and family, I planted various culinary herbs in pots and planters around the lighthouse. Basil, oregano, thyme, sage, mint, to name a few. Of all of these, the squirrel chose parsley. And the lettuce. At least, I suspect the squirrel, who was…

Earlier in the week, I sailed to New York City on the sloop Clearwater. For someone like me who lives alone on an island at the fringe of modern life, a trip to the big city is always exciting. Nevertheless, I was glad to return to the lighthouse and get away from the urban light…

This afternoon, one of the volunteer docents spotted something floating in the creek. “Is that a dead fish?” she wondered aloud, pointing to a carcass near the dock. It turned out to be a dead snapping turtle. Curious about what happened to it, I jumped in rowboat and rowed out to it. I was just…

Lately, I’ve received repeated questions about snapping turtles in anticipation of their annual nesting near the lighthouse. Where do they nest? When do they show up? Each June, female snapping turtles (Chelydra Serpentina) crawl out of the river to lay their eggs in a nesting area near the start of the lighthouse trail. The turtles…

Yesterday evening, I sailed upriver into a 10-knot northerly breeze and riding the flood tide. Just north of the lighthouse I passed a couple of paddlers in kayaks. All of us watched as a bald eagle swooped down to the water and grabbed a fish. I continued beating into the wind for a couple of…

Walking the trail yesterday, a flowering bush stopped me in my tracks. What caught my eye was the combination of purple and orange–a colorful spike of purple flowers with orange-tipped stamens. Other visitors noticed the flowers too, calling my attention to two previously overlooked bushes growing on the island. Curious, I looked it up. Amorpha…

Last night’s thunderstorms left a golden coating of pollen on the walkways.  As rain puddles evaporated this morning, yellow pollen dust was left behind on the pavement.