One of the lighthouse magazines that I write for on a regular basis has cut back on the amount of text they are going to include in every story so that they can have a greater variety of subjects and more big pictures. This makes my job easier as my stories I do not have to cover as much in information in my stories.

It brings up a question, which has been bothering me for a long time. Why are so many people fascinated with looking at lighthouses and/or the image of lighthouses? Everywhere you go there is lighthouse paraphernalia with pictures of the buildings or items in the shape of these magnificent structures. Many have said that this fascination with lighthouses will fade with time but instead it seems to be getting stronger. Being an author with many lighthouse books the appeal has been good for my book sales and me.

In some ways it really bothers me that the interest is so focused on the image of lighthouses. Lighthouses are more than just beautiful buildings. They have character and most of them long history. Living at Eshaness I am reminded of this many times every day. When I come in the front door there is a picture of the dedication of the building in 1929 and I wonder how those people coped. In the kitchen I wash dishes in a sink that keepers and their spouses have used through the years and I speculate what they must have been thinking or worrying about as they stood there. When I go out to the generator house to get a tool from the workshop I see the platform that held the generator that kept the light going in the early years and imagine what it sounded like.

When I am out running around in the hills or in the boat fishing I look back at the lighthouse and realize it does not stand alone but it is a significant part of the environment and the way of life of those of us who live here. All of the neighbours have stories related to their long relationship to the lighthouse as they were growing up. The one, which fascinates me the most is, they use to all go up in the tower on New Years Eve before they went "first footing."

I feel sad that so many people are enthralled mostly with pictures and images of lighthouses because they are missing the real heart and beauty of these marvellous structures. I watch hundreds of people every year visit Eshaness. A visit consist of getting out of their car for a few minutes to take some pictures before they get back in their car and leave. They have their picture and I guess that makes them happy. But, for me I want them to have more. I wish they would take some time to visit the seals and watch the fishing boats that the light keeps safe at night. We have also started a section in our local museum on the history of the lighthouse and maybe they will take time to visit.

Take my word for it if you are interested in lighthouses they are more than pictures and items that resemble them. They store a richness of information and experiences that images cannot begin to tell.

Sharma

I love to hear from you so contact me by Email at sharma@sharmakrauskopf.com

You can find more articles in the archive under Island Miniatures/Lighthouse Letters.

I have three books which are directly related to this column. The Last Lighthouse tells how we bought our lighthouse, the day by day journal of a year at Eshaness entitled A Year in the Lighthouse and in Scottish Lighthouses our lighthouse is featured in the 31 lighthouses presented. You can find out more about these books and other I have written at my official author web site.