What do ice boaters do in the summertime? Dream about frozen water and varnish their boats. Last night, the Hudson River Ice Yacht Club organized a varnish party to spruce up one of the historic stern-steerer ice boats. A group of men gathered in Straatsburg, NY at
Read more →The lighthouse received a paint job last week. Rudy LaBounty and crew showed up with their tall extension ladders to paint all the high, hard-to-reach places. Peaks and valleys and gutters on the house roof. Vent cap and roof of the lantern room. Cornices. They even replaced
Read more →Brilliant orange tiger lilies are blooming along the trail. A cluster of them near the start of the trail appear as a splash of orange against a background of green. Note: Please don’t pick the flowers.
Read more →What are those fish that are jumping and why do they jump? Sitting outside on a summer evening, the nearly full moon clearly reflected in becalmed waters. A stillness prevailed, punctuated by the occasional SPLASH of large fish jumping, like an exclamation point to the end of
Read more →The mulberry tree on the outer island is heavy with ripe purple berries. The red-winged blackbirds seem to like them. I’ve seen people (adults and children alike) in the tree branches enjoying a sweet juicy snack. The berries that aren’t collected by birds and humans fall to
Read more →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
Read more →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.
Read more →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
Read more →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
Read more →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
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