Marilyn Turk's Blog, page 9

Christian Writers Retreat March 22-25, 2017

Blue Lake 2017

It’s not too early to start planning to attend the Blue Lake Christian Writers Retreat!

Do you think God has given you an urge to write, a story to tell?

Or do you write now, but want to improve your skills or find inspiration to continue?

Would you like to meet experienced, published writers who can give you advice or motivate you on your writing journey?

Then Blue lake Christian Writers Retreat is for you!  Check out the website at bluelakecwr.com, and see what the retreat is all about. We’re still finalizing the classes and faculty, so there will be more information added.

But I’ll let you in on a little secret: IF YOU REGISTER BEFORE JANUARY 11, 2017, YOU’LL GET 10% OFF!

Why don’t you get one of your friends to join you as a roommate and share the experience. You won’t be disappointed!

Want to Buy a Lighthouse?

Penfield Reef Light, CT, photo courtesy lighthousefriends.com

Now’s your chance to buy something you’ve always wanted – a lighthouse!

Yes, right now, there are seven different lighthouses up for bid.

So how do you buy your own lighthouse?

Under the provisions of the National Historic Lighthouse Preservation Act of 2000, the General Services Administration (GSA) of the United States has the authority to transfer excess Federal property to individuals or groups. Normally, the GSA will first offer lighthouse property to the state where it’s located or to a non-profit historic preservation group. When neither of these recipients is interested or unable to afford the upkeep and management of the lighthouse, the GSA will auction the property to the highest bidder

*At this time, these properties are being offered for bid:

Southwest Ledge Light, CT, photo nps.gov.

Penfield Reef Lighthouse – Established in 1874, this 51-foot tall octagonal light structure is attached to a square two-story keeper’s quarters building, and is also listed on the National Register of Historic Places. After damage from Hurricane Sandy, the lighthouse was restored with a new roof, new cornice and built-in gutter, hurricane-resistant windows and stainless steel exterior doors. This property marks a submerged reef at the south side of the Black Rock Harbor entrance on the Long Island Sound, off the coast of Fairfield, Connecticut.

 

Southwest Ledge Lighthouse – Built in 1877, the property is a 45 foot, three-story cast iron square structure resting upon a cylindrical tower. The first story has a living room, a sitting room and a kitchen, and the second level has two bedrooms. This attractive lighthouse is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and will remain an active aid to navigation after the sale.  The lighthouse is located offshore in New Haven Harbor, New Haven, Ct.

Green’s Ledge Light, CT, photo courtesy The Lighthouse People

 

Greens Ledge Light –  Greens Ledge Light, first lit in 1902, is in Long Island Sound near Norwalk, CT, and warns marine traffic of a dangerous reef below. This “spark-plug” style lighthouse has a four-story keeper’s dwelling topped by the lantern room with an automated light. It is also on the National Register of Historic Places.

 

Other lighthouses up for bid are Gray’s Reef Light in Lake Michigan, White Shoal Light in Lake Michigan, Minneapolis Shoal Light, Michigan, near Green Bay, and North Manitou Offshore Lighthouse in Lake Michigan.

White Shoal Light, MI, photo courtesy lighthousefriends.com

 

If you want to go see these properties, you’ll need a boat because they’re all offshore, some farther than others.  And if you’re interested in bidding, you can get more information at www.realestatesales.gov. But keep in mind, they all need restoring which means a lot of work and money. But unless they’re sold, the buildings will deteriorate unless the US Coast Guard decides to demolish them and replace them with a light on a platform.

 

It’s possible for people to feel like these lighthouses – forgotten, abandoned, and in need of restoration. But thank God, we aren’t. Because God has not forgotten us or abandoned us and He alone can restore us. Just ask Him.

 

“The Lord himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.” Deut. 31:8

 

 

 

* The deadlines for bidding on some of these may have passed by the time of this posting. Check the GSA website for current status.

To Change or Not to Change (To Edit or not to Edit)

“Get fabulous flat abs in only 16 minutes a day!”

Wow, only sixteen minutes? Why, that sounds easy enough. I’m sure I have sixteen minutes to spare. The girl in the photo sure has flat abs. Maybe if I spend sixteen minutes a day, I’ll look like her too. So I look at the miraculous exercises. Um, no. Only a twenty-something year old masochistic contortionist could do those. Guess I won’t get those flat abs.

“Eat these foods for younger skin.” Well, I’d certainly like to have younger skin for this older body. So I look at the foods suggested.  All right, out of the ten foods shown, I’ll eat maybe two of them. The others I’ll have to pass on. And I’ve been eating those two all my life, so is my skin younger than it may have been if I hadn’t eaten those foods?

Or maybe I can try one of the newly-discovered rare fruits that was just found on a tiny island off the coast of Bora Bora and is guaranteed to melt cellulite. Finally I can get rid of my cellulite! But when I find out that two ounces of the fruit’s pure serum is a mere hundred dollars, I must resist the urge to buy. No doubt next year the fruit will be known to produce warts and orange skin making the user resemble a poisonous toad.

Yes, everyday, there are offers that promise to change my physical appearance or make me stronger or smarter, but most of them I will decline. So does that mean I don’t really want to change? No, but I can choose what changes I am willing to make or not.

As a writer, my work is edited and critiqued by others. At first, I chafed at the suggestions to change what I’d written. But I’ve learned to pay attention to those suggestions if I want my writing to be the very best it can be. I’ve changed my attitude and opened my mind to what others notice that is missing or wrong. However, I can accept those changes or I can reject them. I don’t have to accept all of them, nor should I reject all of them. I can choose which ones to change or not.

With my physical body, I’ve learned what I can do to improve and I don’t have to change everything and try everything. I can choose healthy foods over unhealthy foods, and I can add more exercise to my normal routine.

In writing, change can be good. It’s a choice. So choose wisely, my friend, because no one wants to look like an orange toad.

 

“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge: but fools despise wisdom and instruction.” Proverbs 1:7 (KJV)

Happy 300th Anniversary to Boston Light!

Boston Light on Little Brewster Island, MA, photo by Chuck Turk

300 is a big number. And it’s worth celebrating,

Since this is my 300th post on this blog, it is a special anniversary for me. And fittingly, I get to share it with a lighthouse. Not just any lighthouse, but the first light station ever built on America’s soil – Boston Light.

In colonial America, Boston’s natural harbor was one of the country’s busiest.  Responding to a plea by Boston merchants, Boston’s first lighthouse was built on Little Brewster Island to guide ships going to the harbor. The lighthouse was first lit on September 14, 1716, and three years later, John Hayes, the third keeper of the lighthouse requested “some sort of gun” with which to communicate to ships in the fog.  Consequently, in 1719, a cannon was added to the property, becoming the country’s first fog signal. In 1851, the cannon was replaced by a 1375-pound fog bell.

Boston Light keeper’s House, photo by Chuck Turk

Boston Light with Fog Bell, photo by Logan Lyttle

 

Because of its importance to the harbor, the lighthouse became contested property between the British and the colonists during the Revolutionary War As a result, the tower was blown up by the British as they left the area.

 

In 1780, Massachusetts Governor John Hancock requested funding for a replacement, and the new tower was built, then lit in 1783.

 

By 1989, every lighthouse in America had been automated except Boston Light.  Preservationists convinced the state to maintain the lighthouse property as a living museum of lighthouse history.  Even though the light was eventually automated in 1998, the Coast Guard Stipulation Act of 1989 required that the light be operated and manned by the Coast Guard on a permanent basis.

Boston Light Station still has many of its original buildings – the keeper’s house, oil house, fog signal house, and cistern building, as well as the tower itself, and has been designated a National Historic Landmark. Little Brewster Island is now part of the Boston Islands National Recreation Area and has national park rangers on duty during the summer months.

Keeper Sally Snowman waving a welcome at Boston Light, MA, photo by Chuck Turk

 

The first lighthouse station in America, Boston Light is also the last one to have a keeper. In 2003, Sally Snowman was appointed by the Coast Guard to be a civilian keeper at the light, a position she still holds, serving as a tour guide while the Coast Guard maintains the mechanics of the light.  Sally, a native of Boston, is the 70th keeper of the light and the first female appointed to the position.

You can see Sally today when you visit the light waving her handkerchief as you approach, just as women at light stations have done for centuries as they welcomed mariners back home.

Sally and Me at Boston Light, MA, photo by Chuck Turk

 

 

I had the honor of meeting Sally and visiting Boston Light this year, and now feel a deeper connection to the lighthouse history of this nation. If you have the opportunity to be in the Boston area, please schedule a trip to the lighthouse. If you can’t, you might want to get the book Sally and her husband wrote about the lighthouse, Boston Light, A Historical Perspective.

 

 

“Remember the days of old; consider the generations long past.” Deut. 32:7

 

Bsston Lights, MA, photo by Chuck Turk

 

 

In Honor of Lighthouses on National Lighthouse Day

Portland Head Light, ME, photo by Chuck Turk

August 7 is National Lighthouse Day, the day on which we honor those majestic towers that were built to protect and guide mariners. Today, those lighthouses are historic symbols of man’s effort to help their fellowman. Many are still active aids to navigation despite modern technology, still standing guard at their assigned posts. Although many more have been deemed “excess” and have been extinguished, some of those have been saved from eventual deterioration, thanks to preservation-minded citizens.

This weekend, many of our national lighthouses will be open for this special observance. Please take advantage of the opportunity to visit them and help support the efforts to keep this heritage alive.

In honor of National Lighthouse Day, here is the first part of a poem written by America’s most famous poet of the mid-19th century, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. A frequent visitor to Portland Head Lighthouse, Longfellow penned the poem in 1849 when lighthouses were a necessary part of coastal life.

Beavertail Lighthouse, RI, photo by Chuck Turk

The Lighthouse

The rocky ledge runs far into the sea,

And on its outer point, some miles away,

The Lighthouse lifts its massive masonry,

A pillar of fire by night, of cloud by day.

Even at this distance I can see the tides,

Upheaving, break unheard along its base,

A speechless wrath, that rises and subsides

In the white lip and tremor of the face.

 

 

Montauk Lighthouse, NY, Photo by Chuck Turk

And as the evening darkens, lo! how bright,

Through the deep purple of the twilight air,

Beams forth the sudden radiance of its light

With strange, unearthly splendor in the glare!

Not one alone; from each projecting cape

And perilous reef along the ocean’s verge,

Starts into life a dim, gigantic shape,

Holding its lantern o’er the restless surge.

Like the great giant Christopher it stands

Upon the brink of the tempestuous wave,

Wading far out among the rocks and sands,

The night-o’ertaken mariner to save.

Barnegat Lighthouse, NJ, photo by Chuck Turk

 

And the great ships sail outward and return,

Bending and bowing o’er the billowy swells,

And ever joyful, as they see it burn,

They wave their silent welcomes and farewells.

They come forth from the darkness, and their sails

Gleam for a moment only in the blaze,

And eager faces, as the light unveils,

Gaze at the tower, and vanish while they gaze.

The mariner remembers when a child,

On his first voyage, he saw it fade and sink;

And when, returning from adventures wild,

He saw it rise again o’er ocean’s brink.

Steadfast, serene, immovable, the same

Year after year, through all the silent night

Burns on forevermore that quenchless flame,

Shines on that inextinguishable light! 

 

 

You might recognize the line in the first stanza that came from the Bible: “By day the Lord went ahead of them in a pillar of cloud to guide them on their way and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, so that they could travel by day or night.” Exodus 13:21. Apparently, Longfellow saw how lighthouses mirror God’s guidance. You can celebrate that light everyday.

Navesink Twin Towers, NJ, photo by Chuck Turk

 

A “Stay Away” Lighthouse or a “Come Here” Lighthouse?

Cape Hatteras Lighthouse

 

The Outer Banks, a string of islands off the coast of North Carolina, boasts a chain of lighthouses from the northernmost tip to the farthest south.

The purpose of these lighthouses is to warn mariners of shifting shoals that are hazardous to ships. In fact, thousands of ships and unknown numbers of lives have met their demise in the area, giving it the name, “Graveyard of the Atlantic.” More than 5,000 ships have sunk in these waters since record keeping began in 1526.

Currituck Lighthouse

 

 

Some of the tallest lighthouses along the east coast are located on the Outer Banks – Currituck, Bodie Island, Cape Lookout and Cape Hatteras (tallest on the east coast). Still active aids to navigation, their light beams extend over eighteen miles  into the Atlantic. Their message, “Stay away!”

 

Bodie Island Light, photo by Chuck Turk

 

 

Cape Lookout, photo courtesy lighthousefriends.com

But just a short distance to the southwest of Cape Hatteras is another lighthouse, much shorter than its peers. The Ocracoke Island Light, only 65 feet tall, is also the oldest of the Outer Banks lighthouses, first lit in 1823. It is also the second oldest continually operating lighthouse in the United States.

 

Ocracoke Lighthouse, photo by Chuck Turk

 

Unique in its size, the Ocracoke Light is also unique in its purpose, built to guide ships into the Ocracoke Inlet, once a busy shipping area when it was the most navigable channel into Pamlico Sound and several important ports on the North Carolina coast.

Built on the highest part of the island, its stationary beam is visible 14 miles and 360 degrees. It’s message, “Here’s the channel. Come here!”

These lighthouses share an important common purpose – to guide – either away or to. Mariners learned to appreciate this guidance, knowing it was for their benefit the lights were built.

 

In the same way, God’s Word guides us – either away from danger or to safety. Shouldn’t we appreciate that guidance as well?

“Your Word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path.”  Psalm 119:105

 

Preserving Lighthouse Memories – The Lighthouse People

Bob and Sandra Shanklin, The Lighthouse People

If you like lighthouses, you enjoy looking at them. If you have the opportunity, you visit them in person. However, very few people ever get to visit all of them. But thanks to lighthouse photographers, we can still look at pictures of lighthouses in places we’ll never go.

This blog post is about two people who are responsible for many of those pictures. They are “The Lighthouse People.”

In 1987, Bob and Sandra Shanklin began their quest to photograph every lighthouse in the United States. In February, 1999, they reached their goal with a trip to Hawaii. In 2001, they added to their list by photographing the lighthouses of Puerto Rico.

Their mission was exciting, challenging and sometimes dangerous. Operating with a shoestring budget and sometimes sleeping in their car, the Shanklins roamed from the east coast to the west, from the most northern lighthouse in Alaska to the tip of the Florida Keys.

In their own words,

The Lighthouse People at Portland Head, Maine

We’ve trudged down many a trail, high winds blowing, slogged through sand carrying camera bags in hundred-degree temperatures, with bugs biting, Nikons slung around our necks. We’ve waded knee deep on a trail flooded with water from the Hudson River. We’ve gone out on the water in sport boats, crabber’s boats, lobsterman’s boats, rowboats and inflatables. We don’t know how many ferries we have taken.

We’ve flown in twin engine planes, single engine planes, seaplanes and helicopters. We’ve climbed over boulders, hung from tree branches over a cliff and rolled in a mud puddle under a fence.

Why? To photograph a lighthouse.

They’ve visited lighthouses that are no longer standing, and they’ve photographed lighthouses that have been relocated. Their determination brought them to lighthouses they were told were impossible for them to reach. Off the coast of California, they climbed a rocky, guano-covered cliff trying to avoid the nests and overprotective attacks of terns to reach a deteriorating lighthouse at the top.

They flew out several times to photograph a lone lighthouse in the Great Lakes that had been enshrouded with fog for days, making it impossible to photograph. But on their last try, God opened the clouds and let the sun shine down on the lighthouse, giving them a perfect shot.

The Lighthouse People at Kalaupapa Lighthouse, Hawaii

 

Bob and Sandra are no longer photographing lighthouses, but thanks to them, we can see the lighthouses ourselves and we can have our own copies of their pictures. Check out their photos at www.thelighthousepeople.com.

Thanks, Bob and Sandra, for photographing the lights for us!

 

“Commit to the Lord whatever you do, and he will establish your plans.” Proverbs 16:3

 

 

 

 

The Lighthouse – A Reminder of Freedom’s Victory

 

Sandy Hook Lighthouse, NJ

When the American Revolution began in 1775, there were eleven lighthouses on the coasts of the original thirteen colonies. These lighthouses became targets of control for both armies in order to control the shipping lanes.

The very first lighthouse in the country while under British control was Boston Light, built in 1716 by the Massachusetts Bay Colony. Other colonies followed suit and also built and operated lighthouses as aids to navigation and commerce.

In 1764, at the entrance to New York Harbor, the 103-foot Sandy Hook lighthouse was built.

But in March of 1776, fear of a British invasion of New York City spurred the Congress of New York to order the Continental Army to extinguish the Sandy Hook beacon and remove its lens. Major William Malcolm and his troops succeeded in making the light inoperable, thus thwarting the tower’s use for the enemy.

However, three months later, British troops had regained control of the tower, rigging a replacement lens to project a beacon for British ships. U.S. sailors retaliated by bombarding the tower in an attempt to extinguish the light again.

Although the light remained in British hands, the tower survived the bombardment and still stands today, bearing evidence of its injuries during the onslaught.

The Boston Light, however, didn’t survive the Revolution. The same month of the Sandy Hook battle, British troops blew up Boston Light. In fact, none of the other remaining nine lighthouses still survive.

Boston Light, photo by Jeremy D’Entremont

 

Of the eleven original colonial lighthouses, only Sandy Hook has survived, making it the oldest lighthouse in America.

Like the country it protects, the lighthouse still stands, proudly showing the scars of battle, yet remaining a historic reminder of freedom’s victory.

Freedom isn’t free. There’s a cost involved, and it is proudly paid by our servicemen and women. Let us never take for granted the freedoms we have that others have paid for.

 

Christ also offers us freedom. Spiritual freedom that He paid for with His own sacrifice. Although we too, face spiritual enemies, none of them can take away the freedom Christ has given us. Let us be forever grateful for his gift of freedom.

“It is for freedom that Christ has set us free.” Galatians 5:1

A Welcome Sound at the Lighthouse

American Shoal Lighthouse, Florida, photo courtesy lighthousefriends.com

 

Lighthouses were not always the idyllic, romantic locations many have imagined them to be.

Although some of us would welcome the peace and quiet of an isolated lighthouse, to many lighthouse keepers the solitude was depressing, boring and monotonous. Even when the keeper had a spouse or assistant keeper to keep him company, the days could grow long and dreary.

Imagine being on an island so far from the mainland you can’t see it. And what if the only news comes by way of a supply boat every two weeks or a month? Not only are you alone, but you’re also disconnected to what is going on in the rest of the world.

Boon Island Lighthouse, Maine, photo by Jeremy D’Entremont

The lighthouse service tried to alleviate the problem with its traveling libraries of books that passed from one remote lighthouse to another. But the greatest relief against boredom and isolation came in the 1920’s with the introduction of radios, bringing the outside world into the lives of these keepers.

Struggling with a tight budget, the lighthouse service spent its funds on upgrading and maintaining the navigational equipment, so radios were not a priority purchase. But in 1925, a woman in New York heard about the loneliness of light keepers and donated 25 radios to various lighthouses.

Secretary of Commerce Herbert Hoover, inspired by the woman’s generosity and a strong believer in personal charity versus government spending, issued an appeal for the public to donate radios to the service. As Hoover wrote, “I don’t know of any other class of shut-ins who are more entitled to such aid.”

The response to Hoover’s plea was outstanding, as nearly 300 radios were donated and distributed to the country’s lighthouses. Now the keepers could be entertained, informed, and even forewarned of impending weather conditions.

A former keeper at American Shoal Lighthouse in Florida wrote that it used to take a month after a presidential election before they knew who had won when they didn’t have a radio. Now, not only could they listen to live events, but they could also listen to ministers preaching and hear the singing. “It’s almost the same as being in church.”

What a comfort it is to know you’re not alone.

“I am with you always, even unto the end of the world.” Matthew 28:20b

Halfway Rock, Maine, photo by Jeremy D’Entremont

The Brightest Lighthouse

Victory Lighthouse, Italy

 

Towering above the city of Trieste, Italy, stands the Faro della Vittoria, the Victory Lighthouse.

The lighthouse was built as a monument to celebrate Italian victory and honor the country’s soldiers who died at sea in World War I. One of the world’s tallest lighthouses, the structure stands 223-foot high. Perched above the bronze cage that houses the light is a copper statue of the winged statue of Victory.

 

Victory Lighthouse, Italy

Claiming to be the most powerful light beam in the world, the light is visible for more than 35 miles across the Gulf of Trieste. Planes have reported seeing its beam 100 miles away.

So what produces such a huge, far-reaching stream of light? A tremendous lantern?

On the contrary, the light is produced by a tiny, four-centimeter light bulb. Yet this 1000-watt halogen bulb is placed inside a reflecting, rotating optic, magnifying its intensity tenfold.

 

The performance of the tiny halogen light bulb brings to mind the childhood song, “This little light of mine, I’m gonna let it shine.”

As with lighthouses, we should also let our lights shine. It doesn’t matter how large the light is, it can still shine when we let it. How can you let your light shine today?

“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

Shine on!

Victory Lighthouse, Italy