This first full day of being a lighthouse keeper has been
truly amazing. I woke up this morning to the sound of waves rolling in on the
shore of Lake Michigan. I quickly realized I woke up in a lighthouse and was
super excited. I had been meaning to read the book they gave us about the
lighthouse, but hadn’t gotten around to it the last few weeks as life was just
plain busy. So, I decided to read part of it and choose 5 facts to learn for
today. The plan was that I would learn 5 facts each of the days I’m here and by
the end I would have TONS of information to share with the visitors. However, I
was wrong. The learning curve became a lot steeper than 5 facts a day. I’ll get
to that in a bit though.
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| My first 3 hour shift at the top |
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| My lighthouse: Big Sable Point |
I got up and took a shower(in the lighthouse!!!!!!) Then I
got ready and made my bed and got my room all picked up in case they need to
show the keepers quarters to anyone who might want to be a keeper down the
road. I ate a peach for breakfast that I brought from when we went to Anderson
and girls last week, then went down to learn the ropes of being a lighthouse
keeper. As they were getting the computer started I quickly noticed the shirts
were a mess in a set of cubbies, so I organized them by size and color and
folded them up nice. When it was time to officially open I started off by
standing next to the cash register and helping with check out, but then went
and started learning how to do the video presentation. I quickly learned so
many more facts about the lighthouse just from watching the five minute video,
listening to my uncle give the presentation, and reading the things around the
room. I was amazed how much I remembered from orientation in April and how
quickly some of the facts started coming together in my mind. Don’t worry, I
still have MUCH MUCH more to learn over the next 2 weeks. By lunchtime I was running
that station by myself. We take turns relieving each other a few at a time to
go and eat lunch, and so I didn’t head up til about 1. When I came down I
learned how to stock the cooler with drinks, then at 2 I climbed the tower for
the first time as a lighthouse keeper. My uncle gave me even more facts to
share with guests, and taught me what to do. I really enjoyed talking to guests
and sharing things about the lighthouse with them. I congratulated all of them
when they made it to the top of the 130 steps and gave them a sticker then
answered questions they may have and took lots of family pictures. When I had a
lul I read the book some more and learned even more things about the lighthouse
and its history. At ten after five the last group went down. I shut the door of
the tower and waited til they were at the bottom then swept all of the 130
stairs as I went down them. I don’t think that will end up being my favorite
job… but who knows it might grow on me.
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| pictures from my walk: gulls and plovers |
When everything was shut up, we went upstairs and had supper
together family style. It was a lot of fun. After supper I helped clean up,
then took a walk along the beach and focused on taking pictures of the
beautiful things God created, simple pieces of nature’s art. I even took a
picture of a bone, and left it on the beach knowing I and the people who saw
the picture would be the only ones to ever see it as it would soon be washed
into the lake. When I came back to the lighthouse I grabbed my computer and
climbed the tower to watch the sunset and type this up. The sun has since set
and I just realized I forgot to turn the lights on in the tower. It might be a long, dark climb down… guess I should
wrap this up before it gets even darker
J
I hope you enjoyed the look into my first day as a
lighthouse keeper J
Have an amazing day!!!!! I know I did J
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