Sunday, April 15, 2012

headharbourlightLooking for the Eagles
From early on this morning I had the idea of going looking for the Eagles at Head Harbour, but we had an overcast sky until it finally cleared shortly before noon. There was a higher humidity in the air and it remained rather cool for another 2-3hrs. Finally at around 2pm I hauled Bea away from her laptop (she’s trying to learn the secrets of HTML) and got her and Molly in the car.
Hoping we could see the Eagles and get a couple of photo shots we went off.


 

DSC_0015-miWhen we neared the area where I had seen the one Eagle yesterday I put the car into a crawl, gazing up into the tree tops. But there was no Eagle. So we went the last little piece of the road to the parking lot from where one can enjoy the round view. We walked over to where the iron ladder leads down onto the sandbar which was fully exposed at the current low tide. 

Then we walked over and along the edge of the high rocky cliff on the eastside. I had never been there and was thrilled about the nice view we had towards the small group of buildings at the lighthouse.


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The last two years I had helped the group with keeping the lighthouse in shape. I had scraped some old paint, repainted and replaced a few shingles. It is a lot of fun to work out there. There are always tourists coming over and they are wildly impressed about the lighthouse and it’s history.  I have heard the story of the last lighthouse keeper who actually lived on the rocky outpost with his entire family. When they had low tide the kids could walk over to the main island for school, but whenever the waves had covered the gap they were rowed across. Rowing a boat in these treacherous waters was always an adventure and a dangerous one as such.

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One evening a bad storm was in the making. The family had huddled in the small kitchen in the tower. The wind and the waves were raging around the tower. To step outside would have been the end.
The family had climbed up onto a higher level in the tower. There they were sitting and praying to the Lord he might spare them. Suddenly a loud bang and the glass of one of the windows broke. Water splashing inside, the tower was trying to resist the gales.

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Sandbar exposed under low tide only


We can just imagine the horror of that night. It was never forgotten. The keeper kept always notes about what happened out here. Today’s visitors can have a look into the basement and see the giant wooden beams which are anchored on the foundation. They have kept the tower from toppling over since the late 19th century and saved the life of the keepers family back then.

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We never saw the Eagles today but came away with a couple of pics I have never taken before.
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Before we got home we drove over to Herring Cove to let Molly have some fun at the beach. When we returned along the creek, Molly had become so hot in her fur that she decided to take a bath. The way she always does that is too funny to watch. Carefully she lowers her behind in the water, never lying down but simply wetting her belly. When she re-emerged out of the creek her legs looked pathetically thin, but she doesn’t care about that. Main thing is she has cooled down.
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The rest of the afternoon was spent on the front porch enjoying coffee and home-baked cake. Aah – what a great day!

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A couple of new followers have joined the club. We welcome KCGAZ who enjoys traveling as a 50 year-old, and Mike Mills who doesn’t seem to have his own blog but follows a number of blogs. And then there is Levonne who has an interesting blog called Maple Leaves and Comfort Tea, and finally Encourage-one-another.  Almost forgot to mention Lib and John’s Adventure with their blog USA 2010.
Hope I got them all, if not let me know.


Thanks for joining us!

8 comments:

  1. great shots of the lighthouse!!..and a good history lesson too!..the life of the keeper of the light must be quite something to endure..all the storms and big waves!!

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  2. Fantastic photos of the lighthouse and the island. I'll be waiting for those shots of the eagles when you find them.

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  3. Terrific story and photos. Sometimes there is greater treasure in what you find than in what you set out to find!

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  4. You sure live in a scenic post card like setting.... no wonder you chose the island....

    Like the porch picture.... ther is just something about sitting on a porch..

    Kelly

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  5. I'll add my 2 cents worth on those lighthouse photos - terrific!! Nice job.

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  6. That was a very interesting story about the lighthouse keeper and his family. How thrilling!

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  7. Breathtaking pics ! I will HAVE to stop there on my way East for sure.

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