Marilyn Turk's Blog, page 2

A Visit to Some Scottish Lighthouses

Mull of Galloway Lighthouse, Scotland

When visiting the United Kingdom, my husband and I rented a car to see lighthouses in Scotland. Like in the United States, these lighthouses are governed by different entities, so access is varied.

The light apparatus of those that are still active aids to navigation are managed by the Northern Lighthouse Board in Edinburgh, Scotland.

The lighthouses we visited all had similar appearances, white with gold trim, and a white stucco wall around the property, so it can be difficult to tell them apart by pictures. However, each one had other characteristics which distinguished them from the others.

We visited Corsewall Lighthouse which is now a hotel with restaurant. We then went to  Killantringan Lighthouse which is privately owned and not an active aid to navigation, so we could only walk around the outside of the property. We also visited Turnberry Lighthouse, which sits by the ninth hole of the Turnberry Golf Club. This lighthouse has a few suites for rent and a small snack bar (mostly for golfers). A fascinating fact about this lighthouse is that it is built beside the ruins of Robert the Bruce’s castle, some of the stone walls still visible.

 

The last lighthouse we went to was the Mull of Galloway. Although three of the four lighthouses are still active aids to navigation, only the Mull of Galloway allowed people to climb the tower. For that accomplishment, we were awarded a certificate!

Owned by the local community, the Mull of Galloway lighthouse is the most tourist-friendly lighthouse we visited. The lighthouse building had a museum with a docent, as well as a very knowledgeable docent at the top of the tower. In addition, the Gallie Craig Coffee House and gift shop is a short distance down the hill from the lighthouse.

 

 

View of the Isle of Man from the lighthouse

The Mull of Galloway, built by engineer Robert Stevenson (grandfather of author Robert Louis Stevenson) in 1830, is the southernmost lighthouse in Scotland. Mull means top or highest point, making its setting on a cliff overlooking the Irish Sea absolutely breathtaking. After climbing 115 steps, you can easily stand in the large lantern room which originally housed a huge lighting apparatus but now uses smaller and more updated optic lights. From the lantern room and the balcony outside, you can see the Isle of Man and also Ireland, some forty miles away.

Where am I ?

 

 

Adding to the beauty of the setting is the natural wildlife reserve which is home to a large variety of seabirds protected by the RSPB, the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds.

Yes, the lighthouses all looked alike, but the ambience is quite different from one to the other. What makes one stand out is not only its accessibility, but also the hospitality extended to visitors. By that measurement, the Mull of Galloway lighthouse stands much higher than the others (pun intended), in the way its people shine their light to others.

 

 

 

“In the same way, let your light shine before others” Matthew 5:16

The post A Visit to Some Scottish Lighthouses appeared first on Pathways of the Heart.

Are you my friend?

 

Friends

Everyday I get new friend requests on Facebook and through my email It’s great to have so many people who want to be my friend.

However, these aren’t real people. They are bots or scammers phishing for information from me. They post comments on my posts or on posts I’ve responded to telling me how great I am, and how they’d like me to send them a friend request. I won’t. I delete the message or the request. Sadly, I know these ”people” don’t really want to be my friend, and it frankly angers me that innocent people fall for the ruse.

We all want to be liked, don’t we? I remember back to preschool days when I wanted somebody to be my friend. Same thing in elementary school, middle school and high school. We want friends who like us, appreciate us and support us. And these days, it’s so easy to find friends through social media. I’ve found distant relatives and former classmates through social media and am happy to connect with them again. But how many friend requests are from people who really want to be friends?

Often, I get a friend request from another writer, then if I confirm their request, I start getting ads about their new book. In my opinion, these are not real friends. They are users. Now, I know we should share each other’s successes, but if that’s the only reason you want to be my friend, then  I feel like I’ve been taken advantage of.

I’ve had my website ten years and have watched the number of hits it gets grow. I used to see spikes in hits when I posted a new blog. But now, I’m getting an amazing number of hits, but it’s not because I’m posting more often. On the contrary.  Does that mean my books are selling great? No. My sales have not matched my website hits.

I receive a report that tells me which countries hit my posts the most.  Thankfully, the number one country is the U.S. However, the second country with the most hits is China.  I have never posted anything about China. My posts are about lighthouses and writing, and God is often part of the topic. But I guarantee you that those people in China do not care about lighthouses in the US. Therefore, all those hits are not from people who support my posts, my books or want to know me. The hits are from hackers trying to hack into my website. So I have to face the disappointing truth that all those hits are not my friends. All they want to do is hack into my account.

Recently, I had a ton of hits from The Netherlands. Guess what? I’ve never written about a lighthouse in The Netherlands. However, my books are not that popular in The Netherlands. My website manager told me the laws about internet abuse are very lax in The Netherlands, so a lot of hackers will go through its sites.

It’d be great if those 7000 hits per week (currently), were done by real friends. But the truth is, they weren’t.

However, I am very thankful for the real friends I have.

So do you really want to be my friend? Let me know how we know each other.

“A friend loves at all times.” Proverbs 17:17a

Blessings,

Marilyn

 

The post Are you my friend? appeared first on Pathways of the Heart.

Lighthouses Commemorate D-Day

On June 6, 1944, the largest naval, land and air operation in history when 160000 Allied forces landed in Nazi-occupied France at Normandy, signaling the beginning of the end of World War II.

Orfordness Lighthouse in camouflage, UK, 1944

 

To commemorate the 80th anniversary of this historic day, Trinity House, the General Lighthouse Authority for England, Wales the Channel Islands and Gibraltar, has staged a series of events which culminate on this day.

 

Called “Lighting Their Legacy,” the flames of commemoration, the D-Day Torch, have been passed from veterans to young people, handling over the responsibility for the memories of World Wars to younger generations. These flames began in Canada and made their way across the United Kingdom to Trinity House and ending at Normandy on June 6.

 

Several UK lighthouses will join hundreds of other beacons of light as they participate in the event as well, including Cromer, Caldey, Lizard, Longstone, Lundy South, Peninnis, Start Point and Portland Bill lighthouses.

 

 

The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. John 1:5 (NIV Bible)

Portland Bill Lighthouse, UK

 

The post Lighthouses Commemorate D-Day appeared first on Pathways of the Heart.

The Lighthouse on Monkey Island

Monkey Island, 2024

Recently, I had the pleasure of “discovering” a  very unusual lighthouse, the lighthouse on Monkey Island, Florida. This lighthouse isn’t located on an ocean or a huge lake. No, this lighthouse is on a tiny island in the Homosassa River.

So how did it get there and why, you ask. Well it started in the 1960’s, when a man named  G. A. “Furgy” Furgason, one of the early developers of the Homosassa area, heard about a pile of rocks in the middle of the Homosassa River that was causing trouble.  The rocks were submerged just enough to be unseen and near enough to the waterline to be a problem for boats. Furgy offered to help by having one of his dragline operators pile some dirt on the rocks so they could be seen better. When the operator got finished, he had created a small island about 60 feet in diameter. Furgy decided to add a small lighthouse on the island to help the boaters see the island and avoid it.

Meanwhile, Furgy was building an exotic plant and wildlife park in the area. Included in the attraction were some monkeys who had been brought to Amerca by a doctor who planned to use them to perfect the polio vaccine. However, these monkeys enjoyed their freedom a bit too much causing trouble for visitors to the park. In addition to escaping frequently, they stole candy, got into visitor cars and bit tourists. The monkeys needed a new home where they couldn’t cause trouble, so Furgy had them brought to the newly made island.

Original Monkey Island

On the island, they built the monkeys a hut and added a couple of palm trees. Over time, the island and the monkey’s habitat has been improved, and recently was completely renovated to give the monkeys a new hut, ropes to swing on and ladders to climb. The island is now covered in grass, which the monkeys enjoy rolling around on.

Now under the care of the Homosassa Riverside Resort, they are fed a healthy monkey diet of bananas, oranges, sweet potatoes, raw peanuts and monkey chow twice a day. They are also regularly examined by a primate veterinarian.

Thousands of people come to see Monkey Island each year, either on tour boats or from the local Monkey Bar. Because monkeys don’t like to swim, the river acts as a natural barrier while they enjoy the freedom of their island, playing,  roaming, and watching all those crazy people come by to look at them.

And the lighthouse? It’s been painted a lovely red and white spiral and even has a solar-powered light to shine at night. No, it’s not an official aid to navigation, but it still serves the purpose of protecting boaters from running into danger.

What started out as an effort to help others became a blessing to  Furgy and many others over the years.

“In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.” Matthew 5:16

The post The Lighthouse on Monkey Island appeared first on Pathways of the Heart.

Saying Goodbye to the Lighthouse

 

Sally Snowman waves hello and goodbye.

 

When a new year comes around, many of us face changes in our lives.

Sally Snowman, the last remaining official lighthouse keeper in the US, retired the last day of 2023 from her post looking after the first lighthouse built in North America, on a tiny island in Boston Harbor. Snowman, who is 72, has been looking after Boston Light on Little Brewster Island for two decades. Her retirement was a result of the property being sold to a private owner. Since being designated a national landmark in 1964, the lighthouse has been staffed by government funding, making it the last staffed lighthouse in the country.

The lighthouse was built in 1716, almost a century after colonial settlers arrived from Europe, but had to be rebuilt after British forces blew it up in 1776 during the American Revolution

Sally and I celebrating the 300th birthday of the Boston Light.

In her role as lighthouse keeper, Sally Snowman has been known to wear history-appropriate 18th-century clothing while greeting visitors to her island outpost. Ever since Snowman’s father, a member of the Coast Guard auxiliary, took her to see the lighthouse when she was ten years old, she dreamed of being a lighthouse keeper herself.

Snowman had worked at the lighthouse for ten years as a volunteer before being hired as the keeper in 2003. She became Boston Light’s 70th caretaker, the first woman to hold the post. Now she’s the last person to do so. The beacon and its foghorn is still in service as a navigational aid though both have been fully automated since 1998.

She and her husband wrote three books about the lighthouse. Snowman said her favorite place to go was on the gallery at the top of the tower standing outside the lantern room to watch  the everchanging views of the sea and sky.

During her time there, Snowman said that even with snow and sea pounding on the back of the keeper’s house and on every window, the experience was exciting. “If the house got washed off the island during the storm when I was asleep, what a way to go,” she said.”

Little Brewster Island with Boston Lighthouse

 

 

Although confident the future owners will continue to care for the lighthouse property, Snowman had mixed feelings about leaving. Being a lighthouse keeper was a dream come true for her, but after 20 years, it was time to pass the baton, or should I say, light, over to the next caretaker.

 

Let your light shine this year. Matthew 5:16

The post Saying Goodbye to the Lighthouse appeared first on Pathways of the Heart.

Shine Your Light this Christmas

Merry Christmas!

May your heart be filled with the love and joy of the one true light. 

I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life. John 8:12

The post Shine Your Light this Christmas appeared first on Pathways of the Heart.

The Secret of its Strength

Biloxi Lighthouse, MS, photo by Alex North

If you travel on Highway 90 along the Gulf coast in Biloxi, Mississippi, you might be surprised to see a lighthouse in the median of the four-lane highway.

The Biloxi Lighthouse is unique for several reasons. One is its place in the median of a highway, the only lighthouse with such a location. Of course, it wasn’t always in that situation. Originally, a two-lane road passed by the lighthouse on the north side behind the keepers house. But after a storm destroyed the keepers house and removed some of the sand beneath the lighthouse causing it to lean, the land was reinforced and another two-lanes of road was added on the Gulf side, leaving the lighthouse in the middle.

Biloxi Lighthouse, 1901, showing keepers house and oil house behind, Library of Congress photo

Another special feature of the lighthouse is its history of women lighthouse keepers. Although the first keeper was a man, in the next 92 years the lighthouse earned the distinction of being kept by female keepers for more years than any other lighthouse in the United States. In fact one of the keepers, Maria Younghans served for 51 years, retiring at age 77.

But why is the Biloxi lighthouse the only Mississippi lighthouse still standing of the original ten built to mark the Mississippi coastline? Despite being hit by several hurricanes, including two of the worst in Gulf Coast history, Camille in 1969 and Katrina in 2005, why has it remained? The answer is its core. Stephen Pleasonton, Fifth Auditor of the United States Treasury Department, announced he planned to put a cast iron lighthouse at Biloxi to prove its strength. Following a $12,000 appropriation by Congress on March 3, 1847 and competed in 1848, the Biloxi Lighthouse became the first cast-iron tower in the South.

And even though the storm surge of hurricanes managed to do some damage, with Camille reaching 17.5 feet on the tower and Katrina reaching 21.5 feet, the cast-iron tower survived.

Biloxi Lighthouse, photo by Kraig Anderson

 

The importance of having a strong core can be applied to people as well. There are many times we encounter the storms of life and feel as though we might cave in, but our faith in God carries us through. That faith, belief and trust that God is our strength, is our core, and will keep us standing no matter what comes our way.

 

 

The Bible says in Isaiah 41, verse 10, “Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.”

 

The post The Secret of its Strength appeared first on Pathways of the Heart.

The Lighthouse and the Monastery – a story of survival

Stella Maris Lighthouse on navy base today

On a recent trip to Israel, our guide took us to what he said was the pinnacle of Mount Carmel where in the Bible (1 Kings 18), God’s prophet Elijah had a confrontation with the prophets of Baal. The guide told us we were on the highest point of the mountain. But looking to my right, I saw an elevated area with a building on it, so I determined to know what the building was. As we were leaving the area, I saw a sign that read Stella Maris Monastery. Further research uncovered more interesting facts about the monastery, leading to my discovery of a lighthouse.

As it turned out, the area had been a Catholic monastery in the 13th century dedicated to the Virgin Mary, also known as Stella Maris, translated “Star of the Sea,” due to its proximity to the Mediterranean Sea. Here on Mount Carmel, the monks were known as Carmelites. When the Crusaders were run out of Jerusalem, the Carmelites also left, spreading across Europe. In 1631, the monks returned and built another monastery near a lighthouse in that location. But in 1761, Zahir al-Umar, an Arab ruler of Galilee, ordered the monastery vacated and destroyed.

Stella Maris monastery at end of 19th century

 

The Carmelites then moved to the present location on the mountain, which is directly above the grotto where the prophet Elijah is said to have lived. Here they built a large church and new monastery, first clearing the site of the ruins of a medieval Greek church, known as “the Abbey of St. Margaret” and a chapel, thought to date back to the time of the Byzantine Empire.

 

 

 

Summer residence of Abdulla Pasha showing lighthouse, 19th century

 

 

The new church was heavily damaged during Napoleon’s campaign in 1799, and in 1821, Abdullah Pasha of Acre ordered the monastery to be totally destroyed. He then used the masonry from the church to build a summer palace and a lighthouse on the nearby Mediterranean Sea. In 1836, the property was sold back to the Carmelite order who once again built a monastery on Mt. Carmel.

 

 

 

Stella Maris Monastery today

 

 

The lighthouse was rebuilt in 1928, and the property was rented from the Carmelites by the British until the end of the British Mandate in 1948. The property has been occupied by the Israeli Navy ever since, and the Stella Maris Lighthouse on its grounds is still an active aid to navigation.

 

The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. John 1:5

 

 

The post The Lighthouse and the Monastery – a story of survival appeared first on Pathways of the Heart.

How to Find the Story

 

So you went to a writers’ conference where instructors told you how to write.

They gave tips about what to do and what not to do. But what they didn’t tell you is what to write about.

For some people, the answer is simple. There’s a story that’s been burning in your heart a long time and you just need to get it out. For others, though, the desire to write is present, but the subject is vague.

So first, you need to know if you’re going to write fiction, where the characters and story is a figment of your imagination. Or nonfiction – just the facts, ma’am.

Nonfiction is based on facts, studies, personal history, devotions, or Bible studies. For those, your research must be accurate.

But fiction requires a different brain set. You want to tell a story, but not sure how to create one. Some people think of the story line first. For example, rich girl meets poor man, their lives are too different and far apart for them to ever be romantically involved. But in the end they will be together after dealing with hurdles along the way, some of their own making, some put there by others.

Or you can see a person or picture of a person and decide that person has a story you want to tell. So you must learn about this character, who else is in her life, what she wants or needs and how she’s going to get it after trying and failing along the way.

Some authors choose a setting, then “see” the characters who are in the setting and what their story is.

For historical authors like myself, I choose a setting where something significant happened in history, and how my characters dealt with it. So in my book, The Escape Game, the setting is World War !!. There is something created during a specific time during the war which impacts the lives of others, so my characters are those others. How’s that for vague? I do want you to read the book, you know. And although the story itself is fictional as are the characters, the historical setting and events must be authentic.

So which way is right – choosing the story first, the people first, or the setting first? It depends on what works best for you, what makes sense to you. No matter how you formulate your story, you will need to know your characters. You need to ask “what if?” to move your story along, and you need to know where it takes place.

 “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters” Colossians 3:23 (NIV)

The post How to Find the Story appeared first on Pathways of the Heart.

Lighthouses in the UK during WWII

South Foreland Lighthouse, Dover Cliffs by archangel 12, Flickreviewr

Due to my affinity for lighthouses, readers expect to find a lighthouse in my books. Sometimes the lighthouse is the main setting, other times it’s just mentioned and may be missed unless searched for. As a result, looking for the lighthouse in the story can be like the game, “Where’s Waldo?”

My book, The Escape Game, is set in World War II in both England and a POW camp in Germany. The male protagonist is a Spitfire fighter pilot flying bombing missions out of England and over the English Channel to parts of Europe. As a result, he has the opportunity to see many lighthouses from the air, also sitting ducks to enemy planes flying over England.

The South Foreland Lighthouse above the cliffs of Dover is the one mentioned in the book. It was the first electric-operated lighthouse in the world. Although South Foreland itself was not bombed, the town of Dover to its south received heavy bombardment due to its harbor.

St. Catherine’s Lighthouse

During the war, some of the lighthouses were completely extinguished so the enemy could not use them for navigation. Others, however, were simply dimmed to aid Britain’s merchants and fighting ships. Some lighthouses were even painted with camouflage paint.

South Fair Isle Lighthouse

St. Catherine’s Lighthouse on the southernmost tip of England was bombed in 1943, killing three lighthouse keepers. The South Fair Isle Lighthouse in southwest England was the most damaged lighthouse, bombed twice during the war. The first time was in a December 1941 attack which killed the wife of an assistant lightkeeper. Six weeks later in January 1942, the lighthouse was hit again, this time killing the wife and daughter of the principal keeper.

Sometimes being a beacon of light makes one more vulnerable to attack, as evil always seeks to destroy what is good. Jesus called believers to be beacons of light. As such, we stand out to help guide others, which makes us a target to those who oppose our beliefs.  The Bible says evil fears the light because it reveals their wrongs. However, in the end, the eternal light of God will overcome the darkness. Became Christ overcame death.

I once heard someone ask, “Do you brighten a room by entering it or leaving it?” I hope I am the former.

“The light shines in the darkness and the darkness has not overcome it.” John 1:5

The post Lighthouses in the UK during WWII appeared first on Pathways of the Heart.