Lighthouses have always held a magical fascination for me. A lonely, firm post on a rugged shore, they send their lights out to the souls on the dark oceans. Their beacon of bright light can be seen as a sign of hope or just as a light source that shortly brightens the darkness - here it comes, there it goes, and here is comes again.
When I was a child of six and seven years old, my family spent the summer vacation in Denmark, in a small summerhouse amidst the dunes in Jutland. The sandy beaches were incredibly wide and seemed to be endless. One of my fondest memories is walking along the beach with my parents and older brother at twilight and seeing Rubjerg Knude lighthouse further up the coast, sending its white beacon across the North Sea, again and again in its steady rhythm. I felt the comfort of my family and since then I've always associated lighthouses with safety - not only for the ships out on the oceans of the world, but a safe haven for my emotions as well.
Of course there is also the solitude of a lighthouse, its tall lone standing. I have often dreamed about what it would be like to live in a lighthouse. I imagined a big light room with white washed walls. A desk would be in front of a window from which I could see the open sea and just a little bit of shoreline. A vase with yellow and orange flowers would sit on the desk. Here I would sit and write novels all day and live my solitary writer's life. So romantic.
Dreams... my life has turned out very differently. But I live close to one of the most beautiful coastlines that gives many lighthouses a home - places you can visit and learn about lighthouse keepers and horrendous ship accidents. Seeing those lighthouses still give me that feeling of having reached a safe haven - where my dreams continue to live and delight me.
(first written for Vision and Verb almost exactly 15 years ago)
16 comments:
...lighthouses have always held a magical fascination for me too!
Beautiful dreamlike writing.
I don’t think that anyone is unmoved by lighthouses, Carola, and they evoke another era in all of us. What a lonely existence it must have been, however. Whenever we are near the ocean and an old lighthouse is open to visitors we always make a pilgrimage to it. It stirs the soul, I think. Huge hugs - David
Life takes strange and wonderful turns sometimes. I also used to have romantic dreams of being an author and living at the shore. I like lighthouses too, and I am not too far from a few. Have a wonderful mid-week Carola. hugs-Erika
I love lighthouses too. I know there are places in Michigan where you can vacation in a lighthouse, like a B&B. Or become a lighthouse keeper for a summer (maybe not anymore but there used to be). I think a vacation in a lighthouse might be fun!
I saw a lighthouse by the sea and closer to me, on the shore of Lake Balaton.
I felt the same as you: safety, loneliness, a possible place to live...
I saw it when it flashed red light frequently on our lake, signaling the approach of a storm. It warned me and this is also its function of providing safety.
Beautiful writing on a literary level, and I thank you very much.
Novels:
Jean- Pierre Abraham: Armen (This is the diary of a lighthouse keeper)
Virginia Woolf: The Lighthouse (The writer recalls her own seaside vacations. The novel examines how time changes human relationships and objects, and how memory preserves the past.
I read Woolf's novel, but unfortunately the other one is not translated into Hungarian, so I only have it in German.
All the best to you. Éva
Life is full of twists and turns. I have always found lighthouses to be magical places.
We have a light house here that is now a B&B and restaurant. You would like it.
Lighthouses have always fascinated me too.
I’ve often dreamed of staying in one for a while--just to feel the solitude and safety you describe.
Happy Thursday, Carola!
“To the Lighthouse” by Virginia Woolf embodies the sense that I think many people have that even a not-far-away lighthouse is somehow very remote. Woolf could really turn a concrete object into a dazzling symbol!
I’ve visited lighthouses that were subject to extreme isolation during winter, when the lighthouse keeper and maybe his family saw no outsiders for long periods of time and had only whatever provisions they had stored up.
The lighthouse at Cape Horn is the most remote one I’ve ever visited. Jules Verne’s book The Lighthouse at the End of the World also comes to mind.
I love lighthouses too and imagine what it would be like to live in one. Your eyes would be glued to the view forever. B x
Lighthouses are special, almost magical places... many of us like them.
All the best Jan
También me gustan los faros y siempre que puedo voy a verlos. Besos.
Liebe Carola, ein froher Ostergruß kommt zu dir von Viola
Alles Liebe für euch.
Carola, this was a wonderful post about your love of lighthouses. We always make a point of visiting any that are along our travel routes. There are many along the New England coast where we live now, but also in NJ our home state and we have been to the one shown in this post.
Liebe Carola,
auch mich faszinieren Leuchttürme schon seit langem - vielleicht, weil ich in einem Binnenland - also in einer Gegend lebe, in der es keine gibt? Oder weil ich (vor allem in jüngeren Jahren) die Einsamkeit sehr mochte. Ein Leuchtturmwärter-Leben (oder das einer Schafirtin oder einer Sennerin droben auf der Alm) konnte ich mir daher gut vorstellen. Romane schreiben oder Bilder malen kam in diesen Tagträumen ebenfalls vor. Ich träumte auch später noch davon, wenigstens einen Kurz-Urlaub in einem Leuchtturm zu verbringen, aber das scheiterte (bisher jedenfalls) an den Preisen oder daran, dass unser Wunsch-Leuchtturm zur fraglichen Zeit ausgebucht war.
Ja, Träume... nicht jeder geht in Erfüllung, nicht jeder "muss" in Erfüllung gehen - manchmal war es einfach nur schön oder interessant, sie geträumt zu haben...
Alles Liebe, Traude
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