īecause most lighthouses are located in remote, isolated or inaccessible areas on islands and coastlines, it was typical for the work of lighthouse keeper to remain within a family, passing from parents to child, all of whom lived in or near the lighthouse itself. They were also responsible for the fog signal and the weather station, and played a major role in search and rescue at sea. Historically, lighthouse keepers were needed to trim the wicks, replenish fuel, wind clockworks and perform maintenance tasks such as cleaning lenses and windows. Lighthouse keepers were sometimes referred to as " wickies" because of their job trimming the wicks. Teeming with creatures beyond number- living things both large and small.A lighthouse keeper or lightkeeper is a person responsible for tending and caring for a lighthouse, particularly the light and lens in the days when oil lamps and clockwork mechanisms were used. “How many are your works, Lord! In wisdom you made them all Now he remembered what he liked about this job. After all, his lighthouse was one of the best places to see the whales. Hicks smiled at the sight, happy to see this wonderful ritual of nature. He watched as the whale calves swam beside their mothers en route to their new home, still hundreds of miles away. Gray whales, making their way north from Mexico to Alaska, spouted as they traveled along the shoreline. His heart leaped when he realized what they were. Scanning the ocean below the cliff, he noticed some dark forms moving through the water. He stepped outside on the gallery, inhaling the warmth of sunshine before going back down the steps. He could shut off the drone of the horn for a while. Soon the deep blue waters of the Pacific could be seen, sparkling in the emerging sunlight. Stopping once more at the lighthouse, he went up to the lantern room and stared out the windows as visibility cleared. What was out there, beyond the point, beyond the gray fog?Īs he returned from the foghorn building, he noticed light penetrating the fog. Keeper Hicks paused at the lighthouse and went inside to check the lantern, welcoming the respite from the fog and wind. Known for being the foggiest and windiest point of California, the peninsula jutted ten miles out from the main coastline, resulting in numerous shipwrecks before the lighthouse was built. Each man hoped that someday he’d be transferred to a more family-friendly lighthouse. All of them had left friends and family to serve in the isolated station. There was little comfort knowing that he shared this bleak existence with three assistant keepers, now resting at the keepers’ house at the top of the cliff. But he’d only stop briefly at the lighthouse before steeling himself to walk even more steps below it to the fog house perched on a ledge above the Pacific Ocean. If Keeper Hicks hadn’t known the lighthouse was at the end of the stairs, he could easily believe he was walking into an abyss at the bottom, not able to see the structure in the dense fog. The foghorn needed more fuel after blowing continuously for five days. Occasional gusts threatened to knock him over as he continued down the three hundred plus steps to the lighthouse at the end of the point. Of all the occupations he could have chosen, why did he decide to be a lighthouse keeper? What was I thinking? Lighthouse Keeper William Hicks grasped the railing of the long staircase down to the Point Reyes Lighthouse, his head leaning forward into the ferocious wind. Point Reyes Lighthouse, CA, Photo courtesy.
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