Saturday, May 21, 2011

A Stroll to the Lighthouse

I haven't walked to the lighthouse in a couple weeks.  Since the bell buoy has been brought back, I've had a suspicion that it's in a different spot.  I strolled down there today to see what I could find out before the ferry boat starts taking tours.  

At first I thought, Yes!  It's closer to the shore than it used to be.  But after I watched and listened to it bob for a few minutes, I thought, No, that's where it usually is.  Huh.  I would imagine that the buoy itself is attached to a spot on the bottom with some sort of clasp or hook.  I tried finding out how bell buoys are attached for you to no avail.

So I'll go back to my second opinion.  The buoy is just where it always was.  Good.  That's fine with me!

But I realized a couple things on my walk today.  As I was clearing branches out of the culverts from Lake Lily Creek, I stirred up a swarm of... the inevitable... blackflies.  Yes.  Blackflies are here.  Get out your bug nets if you plan to do yard work, people.  They are feeding.  Oy.

I also found some more flowers on my walk too.  Some I forgot to mention last time, and some like that area.  They were barren strawberry, bearberry, purple violet, dandelion and blueberry -- all very short plants.  I also noticed that the red flowers of the red maples are falling off to make room for the leaves!

And a few of my favorite little green friends that are lush, but not yet budding are the yarrow, roses, St. John's Wort, bilberries, thimbleberries and raspberries.  Really now.  How could you not love the spring?  I have one full week, starting today, that I can enjoy the peace of this land.  Then it's back to work full-time bartending!  I can do it....

1 comment:

  1. Hello! My captain friend gave me this information about the bell buoy:

    The bell buoy is anchored to the bottom with a 6000 pound concrete block and a really long chain. The buoy appears in different places because the chain is long enough to allow it to drift around the anchor point and absorb large waves. If the chain were too short, it would be pulled under water by huge seas, or possibly even lift the block and reposition it. The USCG sets the buoy with sophisticated GPS systems that guarentee that it is within inches every season; boaters need it in the same place every year for their charts! ~Captain Kurt. :)

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