New Dungeness Lighthouse – at the end of a 5 mile long spit, coming out from Sequim, Washington, is this beautiful lighthouse.  Built in 1857, it has stood here to warn ships as they travel through the Strait of Juan de Fuca.  Continuously operating since then, it has seen a number of various keepers – first families or individual men, then the Coast Guard, and now it is manned by volunteers here for a week at a time.

That is why I am here.  A very good friend has done this a number of times and this year, invited me to come along!  Of course I said yes!  This is a childhood fantasy – staying at a lighthouse.  Actually, we stay in the keeper’s house, which is snug and darling and just perfect!  The two buildings sit at the end of the spit surrounded by water on 3 sides.  Across the bay are the Olympic Mountains, snow tipped.  Mt Baker is visible on clear days, which we are having.

Although much of our time is our own to enjoy this place, we also have responsibilities.  We give tours of the lighthouse to folks who have made the long hike out here – more than one would think!  We raise and lower the flag each day – a lovely connecting tradition.  We polish the brass and wash the windows in the tower and sweep up sand each day and clean up the visitor’s’ bathroom.  The grass needs watering so we turn on and off all the various sprinklers – very hard work!  We’ll mow the lawn our last day here.  There are 3 of us here – another lovely lady joined us but we are a rather small crew for the week.  But we get along great and are getting it done.

Right now I am sitting in the house looking out across the bay, toward the Olympics.  The sun is shining and the wind is up so the water is bright and wavy.  The spit is very low and covered with grasses.  The beach is gravelly and stony with many logs washed ashore.  I ran along it yesterday morning, playing tag with the sea gulls.  A curious seal checked me out a few times.  Later in the morning, we saw a pair of bald eagles squabbling and then soaring off, each in its own direction.  Such is life here!

We are also eating well!  We had to bring all our food for the week.  As Beth and I didn’t want to risk starvation, we brought tons of food!  It was also her birthday on Monday so celebration things needed to come along.  I made her the raspberry dessert I always made for my mom’s birthday so it was a treat to do it for a good friend this year.  We ate outside with some balloons and feasted on salmon.

Last night, we went up the tower late in the evening, along with a bottle of wine, and looked out toward Victoria, BC, hoping to see fireworks as it was Canada Day.  No joy but just sitting up there, watching the pink and orange sky fade into night was more than enough.  We keepers are the only ones allowed out on the little walkway around the light so I feel so blessed to sit out there and watch the world.  Ships also pass by regularly – huge cruise liners, cargo ships, fishing boats, kayaks, sailboats – the world of the water going.

This is a time apart and I am treasuring it.  A bit of Paul came too and Ellliott’s Little Duck so this is now another “home.”  How blessed I am to have so many of these places around the world – and this one is so close to home base, I hope to return.