New London Ledge Lighthouse

It was good I was not driving, because I did not have the right destination in mind as to “Avery Point Lighthouse”. My FCR had contacts that led to an invite to get on a boat “do some biology” as they pulled up a lobster pot and we saw examples of spider crabs, some other crabs and how they measure lobsters to see if they are big enough to keep and the shell disease that is hurting some of the lobster harvest. Project Oceanology has a research license so everything gets returned to the sea, but it was interesting to see “the catch”.

Then we went out a bit further and got to the New London Ledge Lighthouse. Incredible building and a challenging visit with my fear of heights…and the boat ride – I was in awe and in agony at pretty much the same time – but no “chum-ming”. But it was completely a once in a lifetime experience and the others on the trip (20 of us) found me and my discomfort very entertaining…It was also very once in a lifetime that in the crowd there was a little girl whose mother lived in the lighthouse in the late 70’s when the Coast Guard manned the lighthouse and her grandfather was in the Coast Guard. Now it is all automated and lighthouses are becoming pieces of art and history. Here is a bit about the lighthouse.
This one-of-a-kind building was one of the last lighthouses built in New England, and it represents a rare case of an early 20th century offshore lighthouse that is not of cast-iron construction. The stately red brick building with its mansard roof and granite detailing makes a striking picture standing off by itself near the entrance to Connecticut's New London Harbor, at the extreme eastern end of Long Island Sound.
The lighthouse reportedly owes its distinctive French Second Empire style to the influence of the wealthy home owners on the local coast, who wanted a structure in keeping with the elegance of their own homes. Many of the large homes near the shore in the area were destroyed in the great hurricane of September 21, 1938.

The grounds of the UCONN-Avery Point campus are incredible. ANOTHER wedding venue! They have a main stone building overlooking the ocean which was the sight of a 7/7/7 wedding and we had a bird’s eye view of the festivities as we pulled out on the way to the lighthouse. The UCONN marine science building is also breathtaking. The campus is right next to a yacht club, so it is a very interesting setting to go to school at in my mind. I also want to tell the science teacher who lives upstairs from my office about the programs Project Oceanology has available.

The early part of the day was getting to my appointed pick up spot at COPACO and we were off to Ocean Beach in New London. It is a very boardwalk, waterslide, pool next to the ocean, carousel type beach setting. I don’t remember ever going there in my youth. We pretty much stuck to our Old Lyme Hawk’s Nest summer destination. The ride from Ocean Beach to Avery Point took us to FCR’s mother’s house for a quick visit; by Mitchell College; beautiful beach front cottages and on the way out – Pfizer; Coast Guard facilities; Navy facilities; Electric Boat and the new buildings (including Pfizer – who I have trouble identifying with my common good…) which were built on the “eminent domain” property that caused so much uproar when the town took over personal property to build things “for the common good”…

On the way home we stopped by a great fish place, we sat outside to eat on a picnic table and then home. We are going to return to the beach today. FCR’s daughter may come with us – I have never met her. She was born after I left town and was living in North Carolina (2 hours from me which I did not even know) until a month ago. I thought that it was a bit “too much” to go back to the beach, but I thought if the only thing that will not get done if I go is my wash…why not go? We are in the first day of what looks to be a string of 90+ degree days (will be taking my town pool pass to work everyday so I can stop for a dip on the way home). And next weekend will be family central with sister #1 in town, so off I will go. FCR did not want to try “my” beach and my pass and she did not mind driving again so that is another plus – not having to drive. I do have ONE issue with my first beach day with FCR – she plays a radio the entire time – in the car, on the beach…I love my sports radio when I am driving, but at the beach I like to listen to the ocean “undisturbed”. I wonder if she will notice that I set up my chair a bit farther away than I did yesterday? Now that I am into my beach mode, I might have to have a questionnaire for people to fill out before I head to the beach with them. But I will try to adjust my attitude today so I can get some reading done. But other than that, I can also spend more time in the water and walking – so no bad news. But I do think that I will re-think my goals for Saturday beach days so that they follow more of the slow morning, quiet beach, church, dinner and home.

My cosmic guidance does not bode well for my FCR and co-workers this week…or family gathering?
July 8, 2007 -- A former President advised people to "Talk softly and carry a big stick, and that may be the best guidance anyone can give you this week. By all means try to convince others with logic but if that fails, and it will, use your authority as a stick with which to whack them back into line. The only ones who will say it's unfair are those on the receiving end. Too bad.

HMMM…It is going to be an interesting week. But how about some “Bird by Bird” to get me back to a more “zen-ish” place? I love the ending thoughts of both these paragraphs.

“Two things put me in the spirit to give. One is that I have come to think of almost everyone with whom I come into contact as a patient in the emergency room. I see a lot of gaping wounds and dazed expressions. Or, as Marianne Moore put it, “The world’s an orphan’s home.” And this feels more true than almost anything I know. But so many of us can be soothed by writing: think of how many times you have opened a book, read one line, and say, “Yes!” And I want to give people that feeling, too, of connection, communion.
The other is to think of the writers who have given a book to me, and then to write a book back to them. This gift they have given us, which we pass on to those around us, was fashioned out of their lives. You wouldn’t be a writer if reading enriched your soul more than other pursuits. So write a book back to V.S. Naipaul or Margaret Atwood or Wendell Berry or whoever it is who most made you want to write, whose work you most love to read. Make it as good as you can. It is one of the greatest feelings known to humans, the feeling of being the host, of hosting people, of being the person to whom they come for food and drink and company. This is what the writer has to offer.”

Lots of 7/7/7 talk yesterday and it reminded me of 8/8/88 and a party we had to open a new office for the company I worked with in Houston. Another date tidbit from yesterday = 100th birthday of the Hershey’s Kiss.

Looks like the Yankees hung Clemens out to dry in extra innings yesterday and the Mets “robbed” the Astros.

Better start packing my beach bag.