Category: Questions for the Keeper
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Question for the Keeper: Coffee Grinder
Question about coffee from North Carolina via email: I just got back from a trip to Seattle/Portland, and have decided I need a new manual [coffee] grinder. I remember you had a very nice one when I was in Saugerties this past summer. Any chance you could direct me to a good place to order…
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Cat update
Unfortunately, I have no conclusive news about the cat that visited the lighthouse last month. My neighbor Sylvia said that she was feeding it for awhile, but she hasn’t seen it lately. We are hoping that someone took it in. Considering how friendly it was, that’s a likely outcome.
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Cat news
I received an email from Kate, who stayed here with her family on Thursday and took an interest in the cat wandering the premises that afternoon. Here’s what she has to say: I just spoke to the Saugerties Animal Clinic. They report that someone did indeed bring the cat in last week, but the clinic…
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Où est le chat?
On Thursday afternoon, when I stepped outside to get an armload of firewood, I encountered a cat walking around the lighthouse. A gray and tan striped tabby. I crouched down to pet it, and it leaped into my arms, clammered onto my shoulder, and nuzzled its nose into my beard. This affectionate cat instantly endeared…
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Question for the keeper: daymark
In addition to the usual spate of questions I get at the breakfast table about life as a lighthouse keeper, someone asked navigation question: What is a daymark? A daymark is a distinguishing shape and color displayed on beacons to make them readily visible and easily identifiable against background conditions. As an aid to navigation,…
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Question for a river pilot: navigation
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 a light toot on its horn as it…
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Question for the keeper
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 from 1892 from keeper James Crowley here at…
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More steps
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 the water. These steps were used by keepers…
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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…