Home From Chatham Point

After a week working at Chatham Point Lightstation, I had to come home. My back was not getting any better; in fact, it was getting worse. To stay working on an isolated station would make me a liability, especially when I can't lift or move without pain. On the drive home, I made it two and a half hours before stopping at Starbuck's in Courtney. I crawled out of the car in my old sweatpants (I'd left in a hurry that morning) and stumbled just as I was getting to the door. The poor woman sitting outside with her little dog saw the look on my face as my back went into spasm. I managed to get my chai tea latte and change (it was hot by then) and drove the rest of the way with a swimming pool noodle jammed into my back to try and alleviate the spasm. Having back pain gives me a new sense of sympathy for people who live with chronic pain. It is intensely frustrating not to be able to do the simplest things, like turn over in bed or go for a walk.

Luckily, my daughter is a massage therapist. Today is a little better than yesterday and tomorrow will be better than today. And so it goes. My back will heal and I'll be out on the lights again in a few weeks, stronger and more aware.

Meanwhile, I managed to put together some of my videos and photos from Chatham, and create another wee movie.  Part of this film features some footage of several Pacific White-Sided Dolphins who appeared in the strait. Leaping and cavorting, they put on quite a show. These dolphins run up to seven feet in length, have a black dorsal fin and beak, and a white underside. They travel in groups of up to 100, and up close they look something like this:

Photo courtesy of Marine Bio. Enjoy the show.

Rumblings in the Night

The wilderness has a way of amplifying light and sound. One night awakened by a strange loud drone, I glanced up to find my bedroom window filled with the image of a floating hotel, its myriad lights glaring in the dark.  I could only imagine the crowds inside, feasting and dancing.

This past Wednesday night, I experienced my first storm at Chatham Point. It hit around 11pm, just after my last weather report and raged for a few hours. Filling the night with flashing sheets of light and rumbling thunder, it is easy to see why a culture who believes in parallel worlds above and below would create stories to explain this phenomenon. Fiercely beautiful, flashing electrical current through its eyes, the powerful Thunderbird flew through the skies, its giant wings rumbling the dark.

In the calm aftermath, I awakened again to a primeval world and peered out into an alien landscape. The normally churning ocean lay dead calm, a layer of cloud hung suspended above the surface, and the sun glimmered through pink blue cloud. Where am I? I thought. What century? What millennium is this? 

Ups & Downs

A month ago I left on this adventure. I’d been wishing and hoping and planning for so long that when it finally happened I ran full tilt on adrenaline. But life has a way of slowing you down. Living at a lightstation is kind of like living at the cottage with all it’s amazing scenery and wildlife, seclusion from the rush of the world, and time to ponder and create. It also has its down sides. Since coming here I’ve been fighting a battle with cottage mustiness to which I am allergic, and I seem to be winning. The upstairs living area is habitable now, as I open up all the doors and windows all day long to let in the sun and sea air. I’ve disposed of several moldy culprits and washed down the place with vinegar. Also, a dehumidifier and air cleaner is on its way. Score one for the lightkeeper.

My legs, particularly my ankles, have been well munched by nasty demon flies that relish the fact that I’ve been wearing shorts and sandals in this glorious sunshine.The calamine lotion in our first aid kit did nothing but my lavender essential oil did the trick. Score two for the lightkeeper. 

Finally, I strained my mid-back yesterday (thoracic, I believe it is). It started the previous day when I went exploring and kind of slid on the dry grass bumping and bruising my ribs along the way. I had something of a stiff back but it was not a problem. Then yesterday I picked up a large piece of plywood and OUCH--it literally took my breath away. Now, we are separated from the rest of the world by 25 km of nasty gravel road and trees on one side and sea on the other, but within an hour, a couple emerged from the dock and wandered up to chat. I’d gone to tell Geoff that I was injured, rather badly--I felt like I’d been skewered through the chest. Turns out, Brian and Darcy, are boating in their floating A-frame cottage, and it turns out, that Darcy has been a nurse for thirty years and is now a nursing educator on the coast. Thank you Universe! She explained that my back muscles were likely grasping and pinching a nerve, and told me to make an ice pack and apply it for 15 minutes every hour. An ice pack was simple to make by wetting a towel and freezing it in a plastic bag on a cookie sheet. RMTs, this worked amazingly well, as it molded to my back. So between ice packs and my heating pad, tylenol, and rest, I am much improved; at least, the skewer has lessened (though I know if I lift anything it will reappear). 

The universe has a way of slowing us down. Today is a day for pondering the shapes in the clouds, the shades of smokey mountain curves, and the ripples in the sea. Score three for the lightkeeper.

Internet!

Holy Smoke! I just figured out how to use my iPhone as a network to get wifi for my laptop. As I type this I am sitting on a rock overlooking the bay with my laptop on my lap and my iphone beside me on the rock. Contemporary Thoreau, no? Of course, this will only work while the weather is good--I can't be doing this in the rain and fog:)

It's been an interesting week getting settled into Chatham Point and a movie will follow. Some highlights:

I drove the boat. Whoohoo!

We saw about fifty Pacific white-sided dolphins that same evening, travelling up and down the channel with the tide. I took some video footage and hope it will show a little of what we experienced.

Saw my first black bear here last night. It was a calm evening and I was reading when I noticed the tree branches shaking just outside my window. When I peered out, there he was, standing up and checking out the plums for ripeness. I gather he'll be around often as the fruit ripens. There are several fruit trees here. We noticed this morning that he'd also been in the apple tree, as he'd torn a bunch of leaves and apples on his way down.

All week we've been scraping and painting the zillion stairs from the station down to the boat dock in Navajo Red, which went well with the Tony Hillerman "Joe Leaphorn" mystery I was reading.

I left my computer mouse at Cape Scott so I haven't made a movie or played with my photos yet, but I will get on that now that I can upload to my blog. Life is getting better.