The Twelve Days of Lighthouse Christmas

©Elinor DeWire

SING IT!!!!!

On the first day of Christmas, my true love gave to me

                A Partridge Island Lighthouse figurine.

On the second day of Christmas, my true love gave to me

           Two oil cans of brass

                And a Partridge Island Lighthouse figurine.

On the third day of Christmas, my true love gave to me

               Three French lenses

                Two oil cans of brass

                And a Partridge Island Lighthouse figurine.

On the fourth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me

                  Four groaning foghorns

    Three French lenses

              Two oil cans of brass

                And a Partridge Island Lighthouse figurine.

On the fifth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me

                    Five golden vent-balls!

             Four groaning foghorns

      Three French lenses

                Two oil cans of brass

                And a Partridge Island Lighthouse figurine.

On the sixth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me

                   Six geese on the railing

           Five golden vent-balls!

            Four groaning foghorns

      Three French lenses

                Two oil cans of brass

                And a Partridge Island Lighthouse figurine.

On the seventh day of Christmas, my true love gave to me

                 Seven boats a-rowing

                    Six geese on the railing

            Five golden vent-balls!

             Four groaning foghorns

      Three French lenses

                Two oil cans of brass

                And a Partridge Island Lighthouse figurine.

On the eighth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me

                         Eight bulls-eyes a-flashing

                 Seven boats a-rowing

                    Six geese on the railing

           Five golden vent-balls!

            Four groaning foghorns

      Three French lenses

                Two oil cans of brass

                And a Partridge Island Lighthouse figurine.

On the ninth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me

                         Nine lady-keepers dancing

                 Eight bulls-eyes a-flashing

                 Seven boats a-rowing

                    Six geese on the railing

            Five golden vent-balls!

             Four groaning foghorns

      Three French lenses

                Two oil cans of brass

                And a Partridge Island Lighthouse figurine.

On the tenth day of Christmas, my true love gave me to me

                 Ten refracting prisms

                          Nine lady-keepers dancing

                  Eight bulls-eyes a-flashing

                  Seven boats a-rowing

                     Six geese on the railing

             Five golden vent-balls!

              Four groaning foghorns

       Three French lenses

                 Two oil cans of brass

                And a Partridge Island Lighthouse figurine.

On the eleventh day of Christmas, my true love gave to me

                  Eleven nice inspectors

                Ten refracting prisms

                         Nine lady-keepers dancing

                 Eight bulls-eyes a-flashing

                 Seven boats a-rowing

                    Six geese on the railing

           Five golden vent-balls!

            Four groaning foghorns

      Three French lenses

                Two oil cans of brass

                And a Partridge Island Lighthouse figurine.

On the twelfth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me

                       Twelve life-saving medals

                  Eleven nice inspectors

                Ten refracting prisms

                         Nine lady-keepers dancing

                 Eight bulls-eyes a-flashing

                 Seven boats a-rowing

                    Six geese on the railing

            Five golden vent-balls!

             Four groaning foghorns

      Three French lenses

                Two oil cans of brass

                And a Partridge Island Lighthouse figurine.

Image Credits

Pinterest

Kenosha News

1stDibs.com

Lighthouse Preservation Society

Old World Distributors, Inc.

Stanford.edu

Bruce Robie

De-Zuid-Afrikaan

U.S. Lighthouse Society

Geni.com

The Astronomer Lightkeeper

My close friends, and followers of my blog know that I love amateur astronomy. I worked in a planetarium for a number of years and have written several books of amateur astronomy and skywatching. My collection of astronomy books is nearly as larger as my collection of lighthouses books. Thus, when astronomy and pharology intersect, I am thrilled!

Check out this page below from my out-of-print Lighthouse Almanac. It talks about Tycho Brahe (1546-1601), one of history's renowned astronomers. He was in charge of two Dutch/Swedish lighthouses for twenty years. Tomorrow, December 14, 2016 would be his 470th birthday!

Click on the image to make it larger.

Some additional thoughts on Tycho:

• His name, Tycho, was a nickname of sorts, derived from the Greek goddess of fortune, Tyche. A Dutch king gave him the name because he cast excellent, seemingly accurate horoscopes. In Tycho's day, astronomy was not separate from astrology, so astronomers did horological forecasts. These provided some income and also kept astronomers in good graces with kings and other royalty. I don't think Tycho actually believed in his horoscopes. He used them to fund his observatory work and to keep his constituents happy. He was a pretty smart guy, so I doubt he bought into the ideas of astrology.

• The lighthouses in Tycho's care were called fyrs, or basket fires. Kullen Light was set up in 1560, an iron basket with a wood fire. Falserbo Light originally was established in the 1200s by monks who burned a wood brazier on the shore to guide mariners. In 1635 it was changed to coal, a fuel recently discovered in Sweden. It's likely Kullen Light was coal-fired at this time too.

• Tycho's death in 1601 in Prague is the subject of much debate. He was only 54 years old and reportedly healthy. Some believe Johannes Kepler poisoned Tycho in order to get hold of the great man's research. I doubt this. The men were friends. Tycho's observations were shared with Kepler before Tycho died. Kepler was a math whiz, able to convert Tycho's observations into planetary laws that still hold true today. Both men had talents and combined them to make awesome discoveries.

• For a time, historians thought Tycho was poisoned with mercury, and indeed it was found in some of his exhumed remains in the 1990s. (We lighthouse aficionados know all about mercury positioning, since the dense liquid was used to support lenses and allow them to revolve effortlessly.) Further work on Tycho's remains showed a scant amount of mercury--not enough to kill Tycho. Instead, CT and MRI examination of his body showed his bladder had burst and killed him. He had been at a banquet a few days prior to his death and had declined to get up from the banquet table and use the bathroom thinking it would offend his host. He was in great pain that evening and thereafter until his death a few days later. My take-away from this story? Excuse yourself, and use the loo!

• Both Kullen and Falsterbo now boast modern lighthouses with modern optics. Tycho would be amazed to see how modern-day lighthouses work!

A map Tycho drew of Hven, his Dutch/Swedish island and home to his observatory, Uraniborg. Both images above from Wikimedia Commons.

A statue of Tycho stands in the modern garden now planted where his observatory once stood on the island of Hven. He was shown looking up, of course. Hven once belonged to Denmark, then was given to Sweden. Today, it's a lovely, rural island with farms and fields. A museum on the island is dedicated to Tycho. Image above found on YOONIQ Images website.

A Cape Cod Christmas Story

I wrote this short story many years ago, after visiting Highland Lighthouse on Cape Cod on a snowy day. It has a couple of typos, but I know you'll forgive that. Click on each page to make it larger. I hope you enjoy it--a heartwarming tale rife with symbolism---perfect for this season of the year.

Stars are Lighthouses in the Sky

Photo by Alex Pitt

Years ago, I worked in a planetarium. I've mentioned that in previous posts, but it deserves repeating. The experience definitely colored my life and inspired me in myriad ways. Planetarium work--mostly talks and classes in the dome and off-site, including sidewalk astronomy--proved to be one of the most gratifying jobs of my career. People love to sit back in the cool darkness of a planetarium and voyage through the night sky. When they see a telescope set up a sidewalk or in a field, they always stop and take a look. 

In my planetarium talks, I identified the major stars, which also happen to be the navigating stars. We found the north pole of the sky using the Big Dipper and the Pointer Stars (I called them the Pointer Sisters--I'm dating myself now!) that point to Polaris, the North Star, which lies very close to the celestial north pole. I always gave a simplified explanation of how navigators of yesterday used the stars and a few rudimentary instruments, plus some math, to find their way at sea. What seemed complicated suddenly made a little sense. And it gave my audiences a bit more appreciation for those twinkling lights in the heavens.

Jim Reitz's photo of stars slowly circling over Lime Kiln Lighthouse. Near the top, in the dark little circle, is Polaris.

**********************************

One of the loveliest natural motions for the camera is evidence of the Earth turning on its axis. As our planet rotates from west to east, the stars seem to move above us from east to west. Set up a camera on a tripod, open the shutter for awhile (ten minutes or more), and you'll capture proof of Earth spinning on its axis. Such celestial motion is awesome, not to mention that it gives us day and night. Check out these images of star trails.

Mark Wallheiser cleverly caught the sky swirling around the North Star, which he carefully placed behind the lantern of the St. Marks Lighthouse. This type of image is a long exposure, with the camera on a tripod and the shutter open for 30 minutes or more.

Here's another star trail image from Shutterstock. Note the star trails are shorter than in the photo above, because the shutter exposure was shorter. That big streak through the background is a meteor., a.k.a. a Falling Star. Of course, stars don't fall from the sky. That's the romantic explanation. A meteor is just a piece of debris swept up by Earth's gravity field and pulled down to toward the ground. The debris catches fire from friction as it speeds through our atmosphere. John Donne said "Go and catch a falling star..." You can, if you're patient. About two or three meteors streak through the night sky every hour. During meteor showers, there are more.

*****************************

Other delights await the night sky observer, including the Milky Way, a view into the star rich center of our galaxy where some 100,1000 stars reside. Some are so distant, they appear as luminous dust. It's pretty wild at the galactic center, with lots of stars growing and dying, and maybe even a Black Hole.

Photo by Mike Selway. This Cape Leveque Lighthouse in Western Australia. Mike left the shutter open on his camera and caught a rivulet of the Milky Way! The Milky Way arcs over the heavens, looking like a large river of Milk. Find a book of sky lore and read about some of the ancient myths concerning the Milky Way.

Not surprisingly, in my planetarium talks, I dubbed those bright navigating stars "lighthouses in the heavens," because they showed the way at sea and were considerably brighter than the other stars visible to the naked eye. We humans can see about 3,000 stars overhead on a dark, moonless night away from cities and other sources of artificial light. As mentioned earlier, the milky appearance of the Milky Way contains MANY MORE stars. The night sky is an amazing canopy of tiny lights--far away natural lighthouses.

Adam Seward made the stars stand still in this excellent quick image! Can anyone identify this lighthouse?

Chris Cook waited for the perfect night to capture the crescent moon, Venus, and Mars. When planets align in the sky, it's called a conjunction. People in antiquity believed anyone born on the evening of a close conjunction of planets and the moon would grow up to be special. (I have to confess Jupiter and Mars were in conjunction the night I was born, but no moon joined them. So I am only a wee bit special! 😉 ) Chris Cook didn't say which lighthouse he photographed, but it appears to be Chatham. Anyone else want to weigh in on that?

Don't forget the big full moon is the perfect palette for a night-time photo. Rafael Ramos took this amazing shot. I think it's a Mediterranean lighthouse, but I don't know which one. Notice how detailed the moon appears in the photo. This is because a camera can gather much more faint light and many more details than our eyes can.

Greg Lovett caught the moon behind what I think is Jupiter Lighthouse on one of its Full Moon Tours. Check out that gorgeous Fresnel lens, a moon in itself! 

Cape Espichel lighthouse near Cabo Espichel, Sesimbra, Portugal was captured on March 16, 2014 by Miguel Claro. He took successive exposures to track the moon-rise behind the lighthouse.

Sunrise is a good time for a photo too. Bundle up, take a thermos of coffee with you. and set up your camera to grab some colorful shots, like this one by Alex Sam. It's the Walton Lighthouse in the Santa Cruz area of California.

Here's another sunrise behind Ram Island Lighthouse, captured by the well-known Capt. Kimo. He's a lighthouse fan with a talent for photography!

*****************************

I wasn't kidding when I said that stars are lighthouses in the heavens. If you aren't about this claim, read on.

I'll end this voyage through the night sky with a poem I wrote many years ago when I worked at the planetarium. This poem appeared in my out-of-print book, Lighthouse Victuals & Verse. I drew the lighthouse too! (I dearly wish my arthritic hands could still render images like this--I fear I've lost some of art skill.)

Enjoy, and do go out and look at the night sky--preferably near your favorite lighthouse!

Sunrise at Abaco's Elbow Key Lighthouse in the Bahamas, by Patrick Bennett.

Fascinating Faux Lighthouses

Lighthouses are immensely popular. Of course, those of us who love them know that fact. We are always on the lookout for the latest lighthouse item, be it small or large, real or imagined. One of the bigger items of the imaginative ilk is the faux lighthouse. This is a sentinel, sometimes every bit as convincing as a Coast Guard lighthouse, that someone has built merely for the joy and love of it or for some special purpose.

Many of us have begun collecting images of unofficial lighthouses. We see them everywhere, even inland. I think they'd make a wonderful book, a tome replete with images like those in this blog.

Dimick Lighthouse in Port Townsend, Washington was built as a retreat for the Dimicks. It has its own light, but not bright enough to distract ships and require Coast Guard status. 

Nonantum Resort in Kennebunkport features this little lighthouse. It has its own dim light for aesthetic effect. Weddings are popular beneath it. It looks like a mini-Pemaquid Point Lighthouse. Behind it is the George H.W. Bush home, hidden in the trees across the water. I stayed at the resort in October 2016. There was a heavy windstorm that weekend, so taking this photo involved taming my hair and scarf so they weren't in the photo.

Bruce Robie gave me this image of a faux lighthouse at Pier 39 in San Francisco. Check out the sea lions on the outermost float.

I shot this photo in a small town in Oregon along Route 1. It's a real estate office. You can see the decorative light in the lantern.

Nordic Finn Lighthouse Company in  Seabeck, Washington has this faux lighthouse, complete with a rotating beacon and foghorn. The company makes special-order lighthouse replicas and faux lighthouses. Photo by Al Clayton.

Alice D'Amicol took this photo of a faux lighthouse in Florida. I believe it's a beach cottage. Note the AC unit above the red door.

A faux lighthouse greets visitors to Catalina Island, California. Photo on Wunderground by boyntonbeachboy.

This is the Lighthouse Landing Restaurant near the real Ponce de Leon Inlet Lighthouse at Ponce Inlet, Florida. I've dined here, and will attest that it's pretty good fare!

Starbucks is everywhere, even in Cozumel, Mexico. Pierre Bernard took this picture of the Starbuck's lighthouse all lit up at night.

The McDonald's in Port Washington, Wisconsin has its own lighthouse. I haven't been here yet. Someday! Although I love McDonald's food, I try to avoid it. The photo was taken by Kraig Anderson of Lighthouse Friends.

The post office in Sequim, Washington has a very accurate replica of the New Dungeness Lighthouse. I've been a keeper at the real lighthouse several times and have published a book about my experiences there. Click here to see the book.

The Tennessee River Lighthouse was captured on its shore-side perch by Megan O'Brien.

Churches love lighthouses for their symbolism of salvation and guidance. This one is on Zion Baptist Church in Texas. Photo from TripAdvisor.

A motel in Long Beach, Washington has this lighthouse at its entrance. I love that we could drive on the beach here and fly kites. Near the motel is Klipsan Beach where a lifesaving station still stands, though privately owned.

Do you have pictures of your favorite faux lighthouse? I'd love to see them.