Transcript
1
00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:05,600
Hey everybody, I'm Vince and I'm Emily and you're listening to the lighthouse lowdown.
2
00:00:12,960 --> 00:00:18,720
Welcome back to the show. Today we're sitting next to each other so it's very strange. I know
3
00:00:19,360 --> 00:00:23,040
so close usually we're two feet across from each other now we're one foot next to each other.
4
00:00:23,040 --> 00:00:28,880
Yeah now yeah we're doing a fun interview today so we had to sit next to each other for a camera.
5
00:00:28,880 --> 00:00:35,520
We're next to each other and we're in your ears. Yeah. Welcome. So today uh is kind of a different
6
00:00:35,520 --> 00:00:41,520
episode. I would ask you if you haven't to go back and watch I don't know which episode on East
7
00:00:41,520 --> 00:00:46,880
Brother Light Station. 20th episode. Which was Emily's. Yeah. And today I kind of helped to put
8
00:00:46,880 --> 00:00:53,680
together only because I monitor our YouTube. We had a super nice lady named Desiree Hevereau
9
00:00:53,680 --> 00:00:59,920
reach out to us on our YouTube for that episode about East Brother Light Station and she shared
10
00:00:59,920 --> 00:01:05,440
with us that she was actually one of the keepers there and helped to care for the light station
11
00:01:05,440 --> 00:01:11,920
through COVID uh through a massive two-month power outage and through a bunch of really interesting
12
00:01:11,920 --> 00:01:17,360
stories. Yeah. So today we're going to just jump right into the interview. Um we didn't record this
13
00:01:17,920 --> 00:01:21,520
intro with her so we'll jump into that recording now. Thank you for listening.
14
00:01:21,520 --> 00:01:25,200
Hi guys. Good morning. How are you doing? I'm glad you could join us.
15
00:01:26,160 --> 00:01:31,600
I'm I'm doing all right and I'm glad I could join you too. Um this is always a little interesting
16
00:01:31,600 --> 00:01:37,600
to get started when we're recording and also doing video but the video is not recording so it's just
17
00:01:37,600 --> 00:01:42,800
us to hang out and we've got Bo Kat here with us. Yeah. I was gonna say who's that handsome baby.
18
00:01:42,800 --> 00:01:47,120
This is Bo. He likes to hang out while we do our podcast because if he's not on my lap then he's
19
00:01:47,120 --> 00:01:55,680
meowing so he's like in the back of our audio. Hi Bo. Yeah he's not wired in but um. He's got a little headset.
20
00:01:55,680 --> 00:02:02,960
First off how did you find our episode on East Brother Light Station? I mean anything that has
21
00:02:02,960 --> 00:02:09,520
to do with East Brother Light Station I seek out but then I also have Google alerts and
22
00:02:10,320 --> 00:02:15,600
you know just keeping tabs on my girl. That's awesome. So tell us about your experience there
23
00:02:15,600 --> 00:02:21,600
so starting from uh you're on the board is that correct of East Brother Light? Well I mean it goes
24
00:02:21,600 --> 00:02:27,920
back further than that. The first time I saw the light station I was crossing the Richmond-San Rafael
25
00:02:27,920 --> 00:02:33,040
Bridge well going from San Rafael back into Richmond. My daughter was in the car with me and she said
26
00:02:33,040 --> 00:02:40,880
what's that house out there on the water and I looked and I I was like I don't know and then for
27
00:02:40,880 --> 00:02:49,920
some reason it just kept you know like an earwig in my brain and so I looked up this was a while
28
00:02:49,920 --> 00:02:55,840
ago and the internet wasn't quite as fast or good as it is now. I'm like typing you know
29
00:02:55,840 --> 00:03:05,520
house on island near San Rafael bridge you know and then I stumbled across what it was and
30
00:03:05,520 --> 00:03:11,440
the bed and breakfast and you know you couldn't take kids out there so I thought well that's that
31
00:03:11,440 --> 00:03:18,400
you know as a young mom what I could afford would be trips for my daughter for special occasions
32
00:03:19,120 --> 00:03:27,440
she you know we couldn't take her so but it just kept nagging at me like year after year I couldn't
33
00:03:27,440 --> 00:03:33,440
stop thinking about it and I was looking at the website and saw that there's volunteer opportunities
34
00:03:33,440 --> 00:03:40,400
to become a wiki that's what we call the volunteers in in honor of the olden days when people had to
35
00:03:40,400 --> 00:03:46,400
trim the wicks yeah to keep the lights going so we call the volunteers wikis so I signed up as a
36
00:03:46,400 --> 00:03:52,080
wiki and I was out there every set you know every once a month second Saturday of the month helping
37
00:03:52,080 --> 00:03:59,120
doing whatever needed doing and then I saw on craigslist they were advertising for someone to
38
00:03:59,120 --> 00:04:03,840
help with marketing and I thought oh why aren't you tapping into the volunteer base you know I
39
00:04:03,840 --> 00:04:09,280
could help with that and I suggested as much then I started attending board meetings to give my
40
00:04:09,280 --> 00:04:15,760
marketing reports and one board meeting they were talking about that it was going to be time to
41
00:04:15,760 --> 00:04:23,440
nominate for new board positions and I said hey I'm already coming I'm already doing this this thing
42
00:04:23,440 --> 00:04:30,960
so I would love to be a board member and they unanimously and happily approved my board
43
00:04:30,960 --> 00:04:39,280
membership and I was a board member for a decade a volunteer for a year longer so 11 years of
44
00:04:40,400 --> 00:04:47,040
taking care of it from the back end and taking care of it like on site and then I decided
45
00:04:47,040 --> 00:04:54,560
well not decided I just realized at some point that I was actually meant to be on that island
46
00:04:55,520 --> 00:05:02,240
to exist on the island but the only way that you could do that is as an innkeeper for the bed and
47
00:05:02,240 --> 00:05:10,400
breakfast yeah as I knew as a board member so about three times three rounds I tried I tried
48
00:05:10,400 --> 00:05:19,920
I tried to find a captain I tried to make it work um piece it together I so desperate was my you know
49
00:05:21,120 --> 00:05:27,600
need to be there and just knowing and and over the course of 10 years it was very disappointing
50
00:05:27,600 --> 00:05:34,560
for it not to work out all of my friends and family would be like you know after 10 years they'd be
51
00:05:34,560 --> 00:05:42,640
like I know that's your wish I know that's your dream I know that you hope for that and I was
52
00:05:42,640 --> 00:05:50,240
like no you're not listening I'm supposed to be there I just know it and it was starting to make
53
00:05:50,240 --> 00:05:57,200
me like waver in my faith a little every time it wasn't working out but and I would think to myself
54
00:05:57,200 --> 00:06:04,160
how could I be so wrong about something I'm so sure about it the math just would not math yeah
55
00:06:04,160 --> 00:06:10,960
and and then COVID hit and we had to close the BNB down and the keepers moved on because they
56
00:06:10,960 --> 00:06:17,520
couldn't make any money and we didn't have a backup plan nobody was expecting COVID uh and
57
00:06:17,520 --> 00:06:27,680
and everyone else on the board married houses grant you know established can't leave except me and I
58
00:06:27,680 --> 00:06:37,680
thought aha here it is how the math maths it turns a number into a variable and then it makes it work
59
00:06:37,680 --> 00:06:46,640
and I got the situation in so much better a way than anyone ever has you know I didn't have to
60
00:06:46,640 --> 00:06:52,880
work I wasn't out there on Coast Guard assignment I wasn't out there on board assignment as the
61
00:06:52,880 --> 00:06:59,920
innkeeper I just got to live there you know and they said well you know don't give up your your
62
00:06:59,920 --> 00:07:07,600
place your job uh we don't know you know sweet summer chill that we all were you know oh this
63
00:07:07,600 --> 00:07:12,400
will be fixed in a month you know everything will go back to normal and um you know if we were doing
64
00:07:12,400 --> 00:07:19,600
that you know mentally during COVID and I said I don't care if it's three weeks like you know this
65
00:07:19,600 --> 00:07:28,640
is fulfilling my destiny so like I'm going and then they said oh well okay if you're okay with it
66
00:07:28,640 --> 00:07:35,360
my my company closed down it was a tourism bureau situation so travel took a really big hit you know
67
00:07:35,360 --> 00:07:42,320
yeah and the place that I was living in the in-law unit the house sold so I got a severance check
68
00:07:42,320 --> 00:07:51,840
I got a relocation check and I moved to the light station all in the same week wow so the universe
69
00:07:51,840 --> 00:07:58,320
was like hey you're not going to be able to work here's some money here's what you've always known
70
00:07:58,960 --> 00:08:04,320
you were going to have even better than you thought you were going to have it and uh that's
71
00:08:04,320 --> 00:08:10,640
how I came to be the light station keeper at East Brother light station for 14 months of the COVID
72
00:08:10,640 --> 00:08:18,160
19 pandemic wow what a rare opportunity yeah things lined up sometimes and of course in many
73
00:08:18,160 --> 00:08:23,920
ways COVID shuffled everyone's life around yeah but that is an awesome place to land yeah it wasn't
74
00:08:23,920 --> 00:08:31,280
just lucky though and it's so clearly what was supposed to happen all along and restored my
75
00:08:31,280 --> 00:08:38,800
absolute faith in the the plan that you know just there's there's a plan even though it's taking so
76
00:08:38,800 --> 00:08:46,320
long you know it's it's because it's going to come to you better than you even wanted tell us about
77
00:08:46,320 --> 00:08:51,760
moving to East Brother light you said you did all that got your check you made the relocation all in
78
00:08:51,760 --> 00:08:58,720
a week and that was all in the same week early COVID times early COVID times I hadn't left my
79
00:08:58,720 --> 00:09:05,920
apartment after the quarantine at all I was definitely one of those like super scared super
80
00:09:05,920 --> 00:09:14,480
freaked out I don't want to even breathe the air outside people um and so it was scary for me but
81
00:09:14,480 --> 00:09:21,840
I was like no no no I'm protected this is going to be okay I moved all my stuff into storage I took
82
00:09:21,840 --> 00:09:28,400
maybe like four bins four storage totes of things to the island because it's not easy
83
00:09:28,400 --> 00:09:38,160
taking anything on or off there's a small boat and then you've got a hoist you've got a big tall gang
84
00:09:38,160 --> 00:09:45,280
way that goes up to the to the island so you know the the the fewer items the better and again I
85
00:09:45,280 --> 00:09:49,120
didn't know how long it was going to be I didn't want to take too much I only took my summer clothes
86
00:09:49,120 --> 00:09:56,080
out there because I thought okay you know it'll be over soon and just enjoy it soak it up and every
87
00:09:56,080 --> 00:10:02,240
you know a couple months that kept adding and I was like my god maybe I'm gonna spend fall here
88
00:10:02,240 --> 00:10:08,400
maybe I'm gonna spend winter is am I gonna get to spend Christmas you know like every time it was
89
00:10:08,400 --> 00:10:16,080
just continued like gift yeah as far as being quarantined in islands about the best place
90
00:10:16,080 --> 00:10:23,360
that's a kind of a specific dream come true a very specific and I missed all of the stuff
91
00:10:23,360 --> 00:10:30,640
the six feet apart the everyone wearing met like I didn't have to deal with any of that
92
00:10:31,280 --> 00:10:36,800
I was probably the safest person in the world yeah those are okay things to have missed in my
93
00:10:36,800 --> 00:10:43,520
opinion yeah yeah so go ahead did they bring you like supplies and things while you were out there
94
00:10:43,520 --> 00:10:50,480
so during that 14 month period no no I was responsible okay for for myself um because
95
00:10:50,480 --> 00:10:58,400
I was responsible for myself um but since the light station typically runs as a bed and breakfast
96
00:10:58,400 --> 00:11:08,080
there is two big massive pantries um sorry about that two big massive pantries um three commercial
97
00:11:08,080 --> 00:11:16,400
freezers uh two commercial refrigerate you know plenty and I brought like all my stuff
98
00:11:16,400 --> 00:11:22,640
you know having been super quarantining myself I was really stocked up I'm a very good cook
99
00:11:23,680 --> 00:11:33,760
um so I I filled everything up and it lasted a long time I had um produce and meat being delivered
100
00:11:33,760 --> 00:11:39,840
to the harbor uh so all I would have to do is drive the boat into the harbor pick up my box
101
00:11:39,840 --> 00:11:47,200
and then go back I never really had to go into the mainland and I never really wanted to um
102
00:11:47,200 --> 00:11:53,200
because any minutes that I lost were minutes that I would never get back yeah uh we like when we
103
00:11:53,200 --> 00:11:58,080
covered the episode we talked about how there was an innkeeper position available and there was a
104
00:11:58,080 --> 00:12:02,720
lot of requirements for being an innkeeper like you had to be able to drive the boat to pick up
105
00:12:02,720 --> 00:12:09,360
the people and cook amazing meals and everything so did you ever think that maybe after you left
106
00:12:09,360 --> 00:12:14,240
the after it had all blown over that you would be able to pick up the innkeeper position and be able
107
00:12:14,240 --> 00:12:20,320
to do all those things or like were you prepared for being able to do all that the the keeper for
108
00:12:20,320 --> 00:12:26,160
running the bed and breakfast position is very demanding and does have a lot of and as as I'd
109
00:12:26,160 --> 00:12:33,440
mentioned I'd been trying to get that position yeah in that 10 years um but not having uh the partner
110
00:12:33,440 --> 00:12:39,600
uh of having with the captain's license you know all of that sort of thing it it just it couldn't
111
00:12:39,600 --> 00:12:46,160
work so and and I really just had convinced myself like I can piece this together I can find a
112
00:12:46,160 --> 00:12:54,320
captain no actually living out there you you can't just get to know someone that you're running a
113
00:12:54,320 --> 00:13:00,000
business you really have to have to have an established relationship yeah with a person so
114
00:13:00,000 --> 00:13:05,920
no it wasn't going to work for me to be the innkeeper but I didn't have to be I I got it in
115
00:13:06,800 --> 00:13:14,480
so much better of a way and I did have in the beginning there um Captain Jared Ward um who
116
00:13:14,480 --> 00:13:21,520
never gets enough credit in my opinion uh for all of his efforts and Captain Jared was out there
117
00:13:22,320 --> 00:13:28,320
as a co-light station keeper he was in the main building and he was uh teaching me how to drive
118
00:13:28,320 --> 00:13:36,160
the boat um how to fix equipment how to run the generators how to you know he taught me all of
119
00:13:36,160 --> 00:13:41,200
that while we while we were out there when he was out there he was still working he was being
120
00:13:41,200 --> 00:13:48,160
chartered for boats and captaining so we wouldn't see each other too much but when when we he had
121
00:13:48,160 --> 00:13:53,920
downtime he was teaching me uh if we had a big storm and you know sections of the fence fell
122
00:13:53,920 --> 00:14:00,320
apart you know we had to we had to patch that up and how to you know refill the propane tanks and
123
00:14:00,320 --> 00:14:09,360
and all of that and we didn't know and again it's so interesting the the faded woven tapestry of it
124
00:14:09,360 --> 00:14:16,400
all that the power was going to go out yeah and you know the boat is up on a hoist and the hoist
125
00:14:16,400 --> 00:14:23,760
only works when there's electricity uh so Captain Jared couldn't get off the island and go to work
126
00:14:24,560 --> 00:14:31,120
and he said you know what uh you got about a half of a day with me to learn whatever else you need
127
00:14:31,120 --> 00:14:38,560
to learn but I've got to get off I have work so he strapped his dog to his chest got a backpack and
128
00:14:38,560 --> 00:14:44,000
launched a kayak in the water and paddled him his way back to the mainland and that was that I was
129
00:14:44,000 --> 00:14:50,320
there alone after that and thank god he had taught me everything that he taught me because I needed
130
00:14:50,320 --> 00:14:58,800
that to survive the no power days which were two months in totality so that yeah well how did that
131
00:14:58,800 --> 00:15:02,720
happen like how did the power go out and like how did how did you navigate that whole thing
132
00:15:02,720 --> 00:15:13,600
so it was the evening of March 31st and um up to 2021 and my lights started flickering in my
133
00:15:13,600 --> 00:15:22,080
quarters and I stepped out and Captain Jared was out on the balcony of the historic building
134
00:15:22,640 --> 00:15:30,000
and everything was flickering and so we were looking at the mainland at shore to see if
135
00:15:30,000 --> 00:15:35,760
something was flickering on shore you know maybe it's just a general problem nothing was flickering
136
00:15:35,760 --> 00:15:40,880
except for with us and then everything went black and it was pretty late we were we were both going
137
00:15:40,880 --> 00:15:46,320
to go to sleep anyway he said we'll check it out in the morning I said okay so the morning is April
138
00:15:46,320 --> 00:15:57,760
Fool's Day April 1st and nothing no power for sure and so we called um the president of the board and
139
00:15:57,760 --> 00:16:04,960
let him know what was going on and uh again Jared said you know he got it got a couple hours with me
140
00:16:04,960 --> 00:16:12,240
but he was starting to get cagey like I gotta get off I'm trapped you know and it was uh
141
00:16:13,600 --> 00:16:20,320
poor his dog his poor dog Lena her face when they were kayaking she was so worried she was real low
142
00:16:20,320 --> 00:16:27,280
down onto the guy it's so cute and he said you know you you might need to think of he's like I
143
00:16:27,280 --> 00:16:32,800
he he would always say you know God Desiree like you never leave this place I know it's cool but
144
00:16:32,800 --> 00:16:38,560
you never effing leave and I said I don't want to leave I don't ever want to leave uh so then he
145
00:16:38,560 --> 00:16:44,240
said well now I know you don't want to leave but you might really have to consider leaving I don't
146
00:16:44,240 --> 00:16:48,080
know what the problem is or how long it's going to be but this is something you might need to think
147
00:16:48,080 --> 00:16:57,040
about disregarded that because there was no way I was going to leave my girl in her darkest hour
148
00:16:57,680 --> 00:17:04,320
I wouldn't deserve the magic that she was giving me if I would just abandon her like that so it
149
00:17:04,320 --> 00:17:13,280
was a rough two months I would only get to shower like once a week I couldn't have like fresh um
150
00:17:13,280 --> 00:17:18,800
food you know dairy anything like that I was piecing together meals at the end it would be
151
00:17:18,800 --> 00:17:29,520
like crackers and broccoli you know from my garden it was fine it was fine I was happy to do it I
152
00:17:29,520 --> 00:17:36,320
would do it a million times over you're a real wiki yeah it's an adventure so uh when the power
153
00:17:36,320 --> 00:17:41,920
first went out I assume you had a cell phone was your main uh communications with the land the
154
00:17:41,920 --> 00:17:50,800
inland this was very complicated um yeah I had a cell phone uh we had a we have a generator from
155
00:17:50,800 --> 00:17:59,840
the 1930s bigger than me and because he's such an old guy you can't run him regularly or he like
156
00:17:59,840 --> 00:18:07,680
he gets tired I named him gentry so I could run him for about an hour a day I would charge I would
157
00:18:07,680 --> 00:18:15,680
plug in all my laptops and my phones and get full charges but I would use one of the laptops
158
00:18:15,680 --> 00:18:23,280
specifically just as a battery pack because sometimes gentry did break and if I couldn't
159
00:18:23,280 --> 00:18:33,520
charge I couldn't call out in in a true emergency so I would never use up all my power just in case
160
00:18:33,520 --> 00:18:41,280
because gentry broke about five times um and the first time he broke um I didn't know what you know
161
00:18:41,920 --> 00:18:51,280
a piston from a pepperoni and I called the board they said you know we've got you know we've got
162
00:18:51,280 --> 00:18:58,000
our guys Steve Phillips of Penn Grove Power and Implement Museum he works on old antique machinery
163
00:18:58,000 --> 00:19:05,440
he will be able to to tell you what's going on at this point I had like 26 percent power left
164
00:19:05,440 --> 00:19:14,400
on my phone so I called him um and he's he's on an age but very smart like one of the smart is a whip
165
00:19:14,960 --> 00:19:22,640
so I talked him through how to download a duo so that we could like essentially facetime
166
00:19:22,640 --> 00:19:30,400
so that he could then see and talk me through how to take apart what he knew was going on
167
00:19:30,960 --> 00:19:37,680
yeah and it was like old technology meets new technology for the save right um and so he sent
168
00:19:37,680 --> 00:19:44,720
a part down with a board member who drove it to the harbor and then the harbor master who was having
169
00:19:44,720 --> 00:19:51,120
engine trouble of his own rode it out to me and then called Steve again so that he could show me
170
00:19:51,120 --> 00:19:59,760
how to install it and fix the the generator my gosh full team effort absolutely all hands on deck
171
00:19:59,760 --> 00:20:06,560
and I got so good uh with that generator I could smell if something was off I could hear if something
172
00:20:06,560 --> 00:20:12,960
was off and um it was my only source of power so I was really protective of it and I needed that
173
00:20:12,960 --> 00:20:18,480
power because then of course the whole world found out about the no power situation and news
174
00:20:18,480 --> 00:20:25,200
articles people were calling the gofundme account was up and I felt like it was such a critical time
175
00:20:25,200 --> 00:20:35,440
to somehow to touch every person who called because maybe that person knew uh someone else and the
176
00:20:35,440 --> 00:20:42,880
money was coming in and I I was using the power up every day just trying to just reach people's
177
00:20:42,880 --> 00:20:50,640
hearts about saving it because at that point we understood it was a failed submarine cable okay um
178
00:20:50,640 --> 00:20:58,320
and even though it was the responsibility of the coast guard uh they they didn't really want the
179
00:20:58,320 --> 00:21:06,240
million dollar price tag right um the cable itself was 150 000 laying it was like another 800 000
180
00:21:06,240 --> 00:21:12,880
and and they said you know our real obligation is to keep the light flashing so we'll stick a solar
181
00:21:12,880 --> 00:21:20,320
panel up there and be done yeah and I said but that leaves us with no power to run the bnb
182
00:21:21,440 --> 00:21:26,720
it was kind of a well then that's your that's your problem isn't it I mean you guys can come up with
183
00:21:26,720 --> 00:21:37,040
the the money so yeah and I was actually watching the light too it it was like living back in time
184
00:21:37,040 --> 00:21:43,040
I can't tell you it was like a time machine so it is an active aid to navigation the light has to
185
00:21:43,040 --> 00:21:49,440
flash when I would run the generator it would power the backup batteries which had about 72
186
00:21:49,440 --> 00:21:56,160
hours on them but when the generator would break I couldn't recharge those batteries and so the
187
00:21:56,160 --> 00:22:02,400
coast guard said I had to keep an eye and if the light wasn't flashing then they would have to
188
00:22:02,400 --> 00:22:11,280
issue a state of emergency to get like you know a backup um generator funded by the coast guard out
189
00:22:11,280 --> 00:22:27,280
there so I was literally keeping the light during that time as well so it was um such a unique
190
00:22:27,920 --> 00:22:35,200
such a unique time traveling experience yeah so cool and so horribly stressful there was a lot
191
00:22:35,200 --> 00:22:43,760
of steps uh to having no power but I wasn't stressful I was excited to rise up to whatever
192
00:22:43,760 --> 00:22:50,720
challenge the day brought and it would be habitual things but then the occasional oh crap
193
00:22:51,840 --> 00:22:58,160
gentry broke or you know the day tank is leaking and half of my diesel fuel is all over the floor
194
00:22:58,720 --> 00:23:04,480
you know like what do I do you know yeah so it sounds like you were busy to say the least yeah
195
00:23:04,480 --> 00:23:11,120
but what was what was the day to day like before and then during the power failure did it was there
196
00:23:11,120 --> 00:23:16,320
a significant change it sounds like all these activities you were doing absolutely so before
197
00:23:17,040 --> 00:23:23,360
you know if it was just a regular you know non-rainy non-windy day I could just do whatever
198
00:23:23,360 --> 00:23:29,760
came if it was particularly windy I would do inside things if it was particularly nice I would
199
00:23:29,760 --> 00:23:37,760
do outside things I kind of started to befriend a raven who I named Edgar Allen so great focus
200
00:23:37,760 --> 00:23:44,800
was spent every morning on trying to get him closer yeah you know I'd spend a good hour trying to get
201
00:23:44,800 --> 00:23:52,320
Edgar closer and I could get him about three feet away from me and then Edgar took a wife
202
00:23:52,320 --> 00:23:59,120
oh Brandy Alexander and she would never get near me but I would feed them every day and then I would
203
00:23:59,120 --> 00:24:06,400
have to keep the seagulls away from the Raven's peanuts because he was priority I would throw them
204
00:24:06,400 --> 00:24:13,200
some stuff too there was a week long wonderful period of life where you know everything was
205
00:24:13,200 --> 00:24:20,000
hatching and there were so many nests because there weren't guests walking around all the time
206
00:24:20,000 --> 00:24:27,280
there were nests everywhere I mean hanging safety goggles had little nests built into the eye socket
207
00:24:27,280 --> 00:24:33,760
everywhere and there was a duck that had a nest right outside of my entrance that I was watching
208
00:24:34,720 --> 00:24:41,920
anyway one of her ducklings got stuck in the brush and she couldn't get it out so she left the duckling
209
00:24:41,920 --> 00:24:50,080
left the duckling and then I was like I'm her mother now you know I can do this for her so
210
00:24:50,080 --> 00:25:00,000
raising a little duckling um feeding Edgar and Brandy uh is looking for rainbows if it was a rainy
211
00:25:01,120 --> 00:25:08,880
tending to my garden uh duolingo all the things that you say if you had infinite time oh grow a
212
00:25:08,880 --> 00:25:15,600
garden oh I'll learn a language oh you know like I was doing all of that stuff um when the power
213
00:25:15,600 --> 00:25:23,760
went out the the tasks went up quite a bit um I was having to when the generator would be on I'd
214
00:25:23,760 --> 00:25:29,360
have the ice machine on so I had to get buckets of ice to keep the one freezer you know I had some
215
00:25:29,360 --> 00:25:36,400
blocks of stock acting as like blocks of ice and the one freezer for some kind of protein so I would
216
00:25:36,400 --> 00:25:44,000
have to swap out the ice um twice a day I had to gather kindling every evening because it was
217
00:25:44,960 --> 00:25:51,200
cold like you can see your breath cold still at the light station so every morning I needed to
218
00:25:51,200 --> 00:25:58,640
start a fire um and a funny anecdote because I'd been feeding Edgar and Brandy for months and months
219
00:25:58,640 --> 00:26:04,560
and they say ravens and crows will bring you presents right yeah and I nothing and not that
220
00:26:04,560 --> 00:26:09,520
I was you know I was still gonna feed them whatever but I was like okay maybe these ones just
221
00:26:09,520 --> 00:26:16,560
you know don't um but when the power was out and they had seen me gathering kindling and every night
222
00:26:16,560 --> 00:26:22,480
they started leaving me bundles of twigs that's awesome from trees that weren't at the light
223
00:26:22,480 --> 00:26:28,480
station so they were bringing them over for me because that's what they saw me like needing
224
00:26:28,480 --> 00:26:34,640
and I just how do you not melt yeah ravens are supposed to be incredibly intelligent I wonder if
225
00:26:34,640 --> 00:26:38,800
they're helping you out they knew what they were doing they absolutely were helping me out
226
00:26:39,520 --> 00:26:46,640
indisputably that's incredible so was power restored via a new submarine cable or solar
227
00:26:46,640 --> 00:26:51,680
system or what what happened there so we raised um a fair amount of money in a short amount of
228
00:26:51,680 --> 00:27:01,040
time we were able to pay a company to splice the cable which is not a long-term or permanent fix
229
00:27:01,520 --> 00:27:10,240
but you can get some years out of a splice and um the regulations were kind of starting to lift
230
00:27:10,240 --> 00:27:17,680
and it was time to start talking about uh reopening the bnb with a little bit more regulation like
231
00:27:17,680 --> 00:27:22,240
the people would have to prove that they were vaccinated and you know everything was getting
232
00:27:22,240 --> 00:27:29,440
double extra clean and um the splice would hold long enough that we could reopen the bnb
233
00:27:30,160 --> 00:27:36,320
try to recoup some of our financial losses and try to put aside some more money towards
234
00:27:36,320 --> 00:27:43,040
the permanent fix of the submarine cable so yeah it's right now it's living on spliced power
235
00:27:43,040 --> 00:27:48,000
that's incredible so i haven't had any recent touches with east brother light so it sounds
236
00:27:48,000 --> 00:27:54,960
like the airbnb is back up to speed normally receiving guests nice yeah it reopened september
237
00:27:54,960 --> 00:28:03,360
of 2021 okay so was that effectively uh ended like your care of the lighthouse or were you able to
238
00:28:03,360 --> 00:28:11,680
stay there a little longer i stayed until august of 2021 um late august and we had
239
00:28:11,680 --> 00:28:18,800
and we had contacted um some former keepers let me i cannot emphasize this enough and people
240
00:28:18,800 --> 00:28:29,040
really don't understand how hard these keepers work it is more than 24 7 they don't have days
241
00:28:29,040 --> 00:28:37,520
off it's difficult it is hard hard work and keepers turn over approximately every two years
242
00:28:37,520 --> 00:28:43,280
sometimes a little less sometimes a little bit more i've been through so many keeper interview
243
00:28:43,280 --> 00:28:52,640
processes and we weren't getting i don't want to say good enough but i'm gonna say good enough
244
00:28:54,000 --> 00:28:59,520
we weren't getting good enough applicants and we reached out to some former keepers who since
245
00:28:59,520 --> 00:29:04,720
leaving the light station were living on their sailboat having adventures around the world
246
00:29:04,720 --> 00:29:10,720
and they had been there for three years when they were keepers and they were willing to come back and
247
00:29:10,720 --> 00:29:16,960
that's really the only way you could really restart it up um and add the components of all the covet
248
00:29:16,960 --> 00:29:22,240
precautions to someone who has already done it that was the only way it was going to work yeah
249
00:29:22,800 --> 00:29:29,600
so brian and stephanie came back for about two years and now there's um there's drey and charity
250
00:29:29,600 --> 00:29:35,440
that are out there and they've been out there for about a year and the next set of keepers will
251
00:29:36,080 --> 00:29:43,280
and on and on it goes like it has since 1980 that's so cool so much responsibility and customer
252
00:29:43,280 --> 00:29:50,480
service all down to two people you have to have elite elite interviews yeah what is that process
253
00:29:50,480 --> 00:29:56,880
like what do you see between the candidates is that something you can discuss sure uh we'll get
254
00:29:56,880 --> 00:30:03,440
applications we'll weed down the ones that we think have a strong chance we interview them sometimes
255
00:30:03,440 --> 00:30:09,520
we do second rounds of interviews um we give them scenarios we ask them questions we give them the
256
00:30:09,520 --> 00:30:17,680
reality of the situation you know do you think you can handle you know not having a life outside of
257
00:30:17,680 --> 00:30:24,560
this for yeah you know two years most people's family milestones happen on weekends birthdays
258
00:30:24,560 --> 00:30:30,400
celebrations graduations babies being born weddings you're not going any of that are you going to be
259
00:30:30,400 --> 00:30:36,480
okay with that you know what how would you handle a guest who x y and z because we've had that
260
00:30:37,840 --> 00:30:44,400
and and we have had situations where we'll choose a set of keepers and then when the magnitude of it
261
00:30:44,400 --> 00:30:51,920
really hits them they back out oh no we've had to go with like our third and fourth option sometimes
262
00:30:51,920 --> 00:30:58,880
um because that's how it works out we've had people that before the two years is up they're like you
263
00:30:58,880 --> 00:31:06,880
know what i can't we we've got to go we don't make anybody stay and we just start the process
264
00:31:06,880 --> 00:31:20,080
again one year the hunt went viral so where we would get maybe six real applicants this time we
265
00:31:20,080 --> 00:31:27,040
had thousands of applicants and and we had to you know weed through each one of them 50 55 were viable
266
00:31:27,040 --> 00:31:35,120
candidates well it felt like we were interviewing all the time that that round i mean we were three
267
00:31:35,120 --> 00:31:41,360
four times a week having to convene as a board interviewing all of these applicants taking it
268
00:31:41,360 --> 00:31:50,400
seriously so viral has its its uh pluses and minuses yes my gosh that sounds like a lot of dedication
269
00:31:50,400 --> 00:31:55,200
so are you still are you still on the board or are you still helping with that process or are you
270
00:31:55,200 --> 00:32:02,400
kind of moved on from east brother i in my heart i will never move on from east brother that is the
271
00:32:02,400 --> 00:32:11,280
great love of my life and i am not by my decision or my desire at all i am no longer a board member
272
00:32:12,240 --> 00:32:21,040
um i don't want to get into that part of it um because you know people can ruin good things
273
00:32:21,520 --> 00:32:31,120
other people and egos but i just really i don't want to take away from how wonderful and how magical
274
00:32:31,120 --> 00:32:38,080
and i don't want anyone to be like oh well that's not right i won't go there go there yeah don't
275
00:32:38,960 --> 00:32:46,080
don't shoot yourself in the don't miss out go there everyone should go there it is going to be
276
00:32:46,960 --> 00:32:53,600
one of the top three best experiences of your life i don't hold bad feelings i still love the
277
00:32:53,600 --> 00:32:59,760
light station i still want people there yeah well there's some other things i saw it sounds like
278
00:32:59,760 --> 00:33:05,280
your life is full of adventure the hotel mac the ss red oak are just some that popped up in my quick
279
00:33:05,280 --> 00:33:11,200
search of you and i'm sure it's an incomplete list also volunteer burning man richmond museum
280
00:33:11,200 --> 00:33:18,080
association but i'm sure the incomplete list of previously interviewed by united states lighthouse
281
00:33:18,080 --> 00:33:24,240
society richmond standard richmond pulse east brother beer company which i enjoyed in world of
282
00:33:24,240 --> 00:33:30,480
nuance that recent youtube video that was huge um do you have any ideas about or maybe you already
283
00:33:30,480 --> 00:33:36,240
have recording some of your adventures whether it be audio recordings or writing a book or something
284
00:33:36,240 --> 00:33:44,560
like that or something i do have plans for a book i thought it was just going to be about the light
285
00:33:44,560 --> 00:33:51,920
station and then things just kept happening for me um the light station just filled me up with
286
00:33:51,920 --> 00:33:59,200
the light station just filled me up with this magical light and ever since then i'm just
287
00:33:59,200 --> 00:34:06,320
it's like a magnet for these amazing adventures and i'm still in it so there's not really time to
288
00:34:06,320 --> 00:34:12,880
to write it because i'm it's still writing itself essentially right and it's kind of nice to have
289
00:34:12,880 --> 00:34:22,000
some time because your perspective on things changes with time and i think to have a well-rounded
290
00:34:22,000 --> 00:34:28,720
perspective before i put pen to paper will be helpful and um i already have the title for the
291
00:34:28,720 --> 00:34:38,000
light station book i'll be our brother's keeper nice and the aisle is i s l e love it right
292
00:34:38,000 --> 00:34:44,640
sorry you're ahead of it yeah reading about all this and watching your interviews and everything
293
00:34:44,640 --> 00:34:52,080
after august of 2021 where did life take you after that so i think it was around july that i got a
294
00:34:52,080 --> 00:34:57,280
phone call from the richmond museum association i had been a board member there for two terms
295
00:34:58,000 --> 00:35:04,640
so they were they knew me and everyone knew me when the power went out and i think i really
296
00:35:04,640 --> 00:35:09,920
proved my metal to people who would look at me and say there's no there's no way this girl's gonna
297
00:35:10,880 --> 00:35:17,840
you know do these things or deal with this stuff i i think i really proved myself um you know tough
298
00:35:17,840 --> 00:35:27,120
and pioneering and so uh the shipkeeper position there's two shipkeepers that can trade off and
299
00:35:27,120 --> 00:35:36,240
came up and they said hey you know would you be interested and and i thought again with the plant
300
00:35:36,240 --> 00:35:43,360
look at how it all just lines up and i said sure and i said when does it start and they said late
301
00:35:43,360 --> 00:35:50,000
august which is when i was moving off the light station yeah perfect so i walked down the gangway
302
00:35:50,000 --> 00:35:55,840
of the light station and i walked up the gangway to the ship on the same day to take my stuff
303
00:35:55,840 --> 00:36:04,080
and i was so nervous about you get used to you get used to things i got used to
304
00:36:05,040 --> 00:36:13,840
the sound of the water the sound of the seagulls um not worrying about a calendar or a clock
305
00:36:14,480 --> 00:36:21,120
i was so nervous about what my next step was going to be and and fully immersing back into
306
00:36:21,120 --> 00:36:28,080
the mainland and you know all the people and so it was nice to still kind of be on the outskirts
307
00:36:28,080 --> 00:36:35,120
to still hear the seagulls to still hear the water um to be on a ship that i had been visiting
308
00:36:35,120 --> 00:36:41,120
for years of my life i didn't even need to be shown around i knew my way around already
309
00:36:42,160 --> 00:36:50,080
um and it was so cool it was so cool and then two months after that i got a phone call about
310
00:36:50,080 --> 00:36:56,480
being the innkeeper at the hotel mac from a childhood friend who was the current innkeeper
311
00:36:56,480 --> 00:37:02,960
and moving on and i said well sure i can i can do both and then two months after that the richmond
312
00:37:02,960 --> 00:37:08,560
museum association said hey the executive director of the museum is leaving we're thanking you and i
313
00:37:08,560 --> 00:37:14,800
thought i don't know if i can tell all of that but i'll try and that was a hard year 2022 was
314
00:37:14,800 --> 00:37:22,960
22 was a year very little sleep and no time off whatsoever but i i did it you know i did all three
315
00:37:22,960 --> 00:37:29,440
and i just continue to make myself proud yeah that's amazing yeah it sounds like you've got
316
00:37:29,440 --> 00:37:35,040
a great pulse on richmond you're uh you're very well connected you know more than most and you're
317
00:37:35,040 --> 00:37:41,200
right in there something i like to bring up we talk about lighthouses um so i don't know the
318
00:37:41,200 --> 00:37:47,440
san francisco bay area too well but east brother light is most near richmond is that right that's
319
00:37:47,440 --> 00:37:52,880
correct and it's in a really rough channel which is why there needs to be in a lighthouse in the
320
00:37:52,880 --> 00:38:01,760
first place um that's where i learned how to drive a boat oh my gosh right yeah there was a lot of
321
00:38:01,760 --> 00:38:10,320
yelling and crying it's like trying to drive a manual and rush hour traffic is your first time
322
00:38:10,320 --> 00:38:16,560
it's it's even harder well driving the boat on the open waters fine it's trying to land the fine
323
00:38:16,560 --> 00:38:22,800
details of landing because you know you're wanting to get in in their small detailing nuances and the
324
00:38:22,800 --> 00:38:30,640
water is just like pushing you wherever it wants to push you yeah and we've had a lot of adventures
325
00:38:30,640 --> 00:38:33,520
um is there anything else you want to talk about today or questions for us
326
00:38:33,520 --> 00:38:41,360
so um if i could share some historic anecdotes that i think are particularly um interesting and
327
00:38:41,360 --> 00:38:48,080
or parallel uh to experiences um you guys obviously are familiar with the stenmark era
328
00:38:49,680 --> 00:38:56,080
so the exit that you take to get to the light station was renamed stenmark drive in honor of
329
00:38:56,080 --> 00:39:04,480
the stenmarks um tom butt who is president of the east brother light station non-profit he was also
330
00:39:04,480 --> 00:39:11,040
the mayor of richmond for eight years he had it changed to honor the stenmarks and we've had
331
00:39:11,040 --> 00:39:18,480
stenmark descendants come out to the light station to be on the grounds of their you know their
332
00:39:18,480 --> 00:39:25,280
ancestors which has been particularly special um so the stenmarks went there with two children and
333
00:39:25,280 --> 00:39:32,960
they had two children while they were out there um captain stenmark having to row to san quentin to
334
00:39:32,960 --> 00:39:39,440
fetch a doctor both times and you know there's no there's no real mention because at that time of
335
00:39:39,440 --> 00:39:45,280
course you don't complain right but who knows what the conditions of the water were what the
336
00:39:45,280 --> 00:39:51,760
weather was whether it was nighttime or i think about these things all the time just here i am
337
00:39:51,760 --> 00:39:59,120
getting my you know kindling thinking oh i'm true grit but captain stenmark was true grit you know
338
00:40:00,800 --> 00:40:08,800
um and they were out there for 22 years which is amazing um initially they there was a teacher
339
00:40:08,800 --> 00:40:14,080
that was sent um by the you know county to come teach the children so she would stay in the
340
00:40:14,720 --> 00:40:20,080
the the little school house uh quarters which are now the innkeeper the innkeeper's quarters
341
00:40:20,080 --> 00:40:28,880
which is where i where i was living um and then when the train came um then they changed it uh so
342
00:40:28,880 --> 00:40:33,280
that the the stenmarks would have to row the kids to shore and the kids would ride the train in
343
00:40:33,280 --> 00:40:38,640
into town to go to school but you don't think about things like that um when uh one of their
344
00:40:38,640 --> 00:40:44,560
daughters was older a gentleman who worked for standard oil which is now chevron uh would row
345
00:40:44,560 --> 00:40:49,680
out to court her and at the beginning he wasn't very good but he became very fluent
346
00:40:49,680 --> 00:40:57,280
and rowing you know to come to come and court her and of course they were married and um so
347
00:40:57,280 --> 00:41:04,080
the stenmark days are fascinating to me and i had uh you know there's different types of dreams
348
00:41:04,080 --> 00:41:10,400
sometimes there's dreams that are not dreams so i had a lot of those when i lived out there i mean
349
00:41:10,400 --> 00:41:16,720
i was just constantly getting messages and prophetic dreams um one of them in particular
350
00:41:16,720 --> 00:41:25,200
lady stenmark um and an accompanist were coming up from the north shore of the island which is
351
00:41:25,200 --> 00:41:33,680
not where the dock is now but it is where it was during that time so uh lady stenmark came up
352
00:41:33,680 --> 00:41:39,360
she was all in victorian garb you know and she's pointing at all of the things that were different
353
00:41:39,360 --> 00:41:46,160
and then she sees me and she points at me and then she points down and i look down and suddenly
354
00:41:46,160 --> 00:41:51,120
i'm standing in the garden and there's this swiss chard growing all around me so it was clear that
355
00:41:51,120 --> 00:41:57,040
lady stenmark wanted me growing chard in my garden and i put six plants out there so and they did
356
00:41:57,040 --> 00:42:06,240
really well um so that's my stenmark that's my little like stenmark story and and then after the
357
00:42:06,240 --> 00:42:12,240
stenmarks were the kofads and they had two grandchildren and their daughter who lived in
358
00:42:12,240 --> 00:42:23,040
berkeley little walter and emma fanning um their their dad was away at world war one and the
359
00:42:23,040 --> 00:42:33,840
spanish influenza was ravishing the world much like we were dealing with during covid so um
360
00:42:33,840 --> 00:42:39,360
walter and emma's grandparents the kofads said you guys are moving out here to the light station
361
00:42:39,920 --> 00:42:50,000
to escape the flu and so i was living at the light station escaping the flu and walter as a very old
362
00:42:50,000 --> 00:42:57,280
man in the 70s when the coast guard wanted to demolish the the structures and the non-profit
363
00:42:57,280 --> 00:43:04,320
formed and the historic designation was given walter was there as president of the board he was
364
00:43:04,320 --> 00:43:10,880
on that light station uh day in and day out working towards the restoration with his own hands
365
00:43:10,880 --> 00:43:16,960
he built himself a little a little room that he would sleep in because you know he was there all
366
00:43:16,960 --> 00:43:24,080
the time and we subsequently turned that room into walter's quarters yeah as a place where the guests
367
00:43:24,080 --> 00:43:34,560
can stay um where wal- good old wal used to stay i never met him myself but um i think that anyone
368
00:43:34,560 --> 00:43:44,720
who i get all emotional anyone who loved the light station like that like me i have so much respect
369
00:43:44,720 --> 00:43:54,160
for so my little duckling who i found i named her dakota fanning after walter
370
00:43:57,440 --> 00:44:05,760
so after walter fanning and i moved every historic artifact that had to do with walter
371
00:44:05,760 --> 00:44:13,840
and his um and the kofads into walter's quarters area so not only do you get to see the kofads
372
00:44:13,840 --> 00:44:20,640
not only do you get to stay in his quarters you get to see all of the things that um are from his
373
00:44:20,640 --> 00:44:28,400
lineage from his history there at the light station um so that's my walter panning story um and then
374
00:44:29,280 --> 00:44:35,120
i mentioned that the day tank was leaking diesel fuel one time because i came in to turn the
375
00:44:35,120 --> 00:44:40,640
generator off and everything was wet i lived completely feral out there i never wore shoes and
376
00:44:40,640 --> 00:44:50,320
you know nothing fancy so i walk into this wetness and i like freak out you know apparently diesel is
377
00:44:50,320 --> 00:44:54,480
a little different than gas it's not as flammable i didn't know that though at the time and i was
378
00:44:54,480 --> 00:45:03,760
thinking oh my god you know i i threw my cell phone out of the building you know in case it rang
379
00:45:03,760 --> 00:45:10,800
or something you know you know spark you know and i'm picturing a fire much like the fire that happened
380
00:45:11,440 --> 00:45:19,600
um in the boathouse uh poor willard who who burned his hands all up trying to fan that fire out the
381
00:45:19,600 --> 00:45:24,400
whole gangway burned up i don't even know how they they got out there to them it was just
382
00:45:24,400 --> 00:45:32,320
uh but i i poured flour and baking soda and any powders that i had to like soak it up
383
00:45:33,040 --> 00:45:40,640
it was just the scariest day and i thought oh god and now i understand like the panic that he must
384
00:45:40,640 --> 00:45:45,520
have gone through like you know the uh the responsibility that was on his shoulders like
385
00:45:45,520 --> 00:45:53,360
that and it it was like walking in the feet of history out there there were a lot of parallels
386
00:45:53,360 --> 00:46:03,760
and i'm infinitely grateful i i could never explain how grateful i am to have had to be
387
00:46:03,760 --> 00:46:10,640
gathering that kindle kindling to had to be smelling for a week before i could shower to
388
00:46:10,640 --> 00:46:18,000
had to be not eating correctly for those two i'm so grateful for all of that yeah and especially
389
00:46:18,000 --> 00:46:22,560
like at that time no one else was willing to do it in the lighthouse needed somebody like
390
00:46:22,560 --> 00:46:28,720
you and that's why the time had gone on so long without being able to fulfill your dream is that
391
00:46:28,720 --> 00:46:33,280
you're you're being saved for a specific moment where nobody else would be able to fill that hole
392
00:46:33,280 --> 00:46:39,600
so it's amazing yeah and and i thought about that too i thought this is why it has to be me
393
00:46:40,160 --> 00:46:49,280
who else was gonna do that who else destiny man yeah it's a really it's a really neat thing
394
00:46:49,280 --> 00:46:56,640
there's all kinds of crazy spiritual unexplainable stories like your prophetic dreams and those kind
395
00:46:56,640 --> 00:47:01,360
of um like the destiny sort of things a lot of those things happen around lighthouses it just
396
00:47:01,360 --> 00:47:07,280
seems like it's kind of like a path to another world that people experience all kinds of crazy
397
00:47:07,280 --> 00:47:16,160
stuff it it changes a person though too or it did me i i got to sit down and watch the most beautiful
398
00:47:16,160 --> 00:47:22,880
sunsets every night you know i i wasn't interested in tv the birds would all come in from wherever
399
00:47:22,880 --> 00:47:30,320
all the directions encircle west brother and land and the sunsets behind it were just and now i i
400
00:47:30,320 --> 00:47:36,560
look at sunsets as such beautiful overwhelming things um on my birthday it was raining and
401
00:47:36,560 --> 00:47:44,320
usually that would suck right out here but it meant that i had rainbows all day all throughout the sky
402
00:47:44,320 --> 00:47:53,600
all throughout the sky on my birthday a gift from my light station and it it changed me yeah
403
00:47:54,640 --> 00:48:01,040
my friend gary at the harbor he always says oh dez you saved her she saved me that's incredible
404
00:48:01,040 --> 00:48:06,080
a lot of people say you know they win the lottery one of their plans is to to find an island and
405
00:48:06,080 --> 00:48:11,600
throw away their cell phone i think it's a different context but uh we're all looking
406
00:48:11,600 --> 00:48:16,640
for something like that some real experience especially with a lighthouse and all that history
407
00:48:16,640 --> 00:48:23,040
to connect with i think uh you know the the sitting in the sand with a with a drinking hand
408
00:48:23,040 --> 00:48:28,080
is a different idea but it's kind of the same hope that people have some adventures some history
409
00:48:28,080 --> 00:48:34,320
some stories and something real to connect with absolutely and not all of us are so fortunate and
410
00:48:34,320 --> 00:48:43,360
and gratitude is an amazing healer yeah so so your experience with i don't want to speak for
411
00:48:43,360 --> 00:48:49,120
you but it's meant to be a question your experience with each brother light and your i'll say spiritual
412
00:48:49,120 --> 00:48:54,800
connection to it those dreams that you have these feelings that you have how has that gone into your
413
00:48:54,800 --> 00:49:01,040
other work that you've done because from meeting you online and also watching other recordings and
414
00:49:01,040 --> 00:49:06,080
videos of you it seems like you carry that passion around is that just all over the place you see
415
00:49:06,080 --> 00:49:14,560
through a different scope now completely different scope i um i i still believed in a lot of um you
416
00:49:14,560 --> 00:49:21,120
know universe and juju and all of that before going out there but it's so much more intense now like
417
00:49:21,120 --> 00:49:30,000
i never questioned the signs and the signals now they're they are out there the the day before the
418
00:49:30,000 --> 00:49:36,960
keepers were coming back on to like get things restarted my last official day alone at the
419
00:49:36,960 --> 00:49:43,760
lighthouse i walked out to the garden in the morning to you know feed feed the birds and i saw this
420
00:49:45,040 --> 00:49:52,400
it was on one of my squash leaves and i saw this thing happening with some cocoon uh
421
00:49:53,920 --> 00:49:59,200
and i thought let me go run and get my phone but then i thought no no no this is just for me yeah
422
00:49:59,200 --> 00:50:04,640
so i sat there for about an hour and i watched this this thing that i mean this is going to
423
00:50:04,640 --> 00:50:10,480
sound gross but this is what it was this thing came out of it that was the color of pus like
424
00:50:10,480 --> 00:50:19,920
not quite yellow not quite green kind of creamish and it like opened up its wings and dried out and
425
00:50:19,920 --> 00:50:27,280
slowly started turning red and getting its spot i watched a ladybug be born oh my gosh and and
426
00:50:27,280 --> 00:50:34,560
fly away and it was such a a reassuring message to me because of course i knew that the you know
427
00:50:35,360 --> 00:50:39,200
time was going to come this isn't forever i'm going to have to leave of course i'm going to
428
00:50:39,200 --> 00:50:46,480
be sad about it of course right but it was like a message from the from the island like
429
00:50:48,160 --> 00:50:54,640
you are also being born a ladybugs are symbols of hope as well isn't that right or is it luck maybe
430
00:50:54,640 --> 00:51:02,080
i don't know i'm losing it i think there's some either way either way what a wonderful reassuring
431
00:51:02,720 --> 00:51:09,120
you're okay you're safe we still got you we always talk about or at least i do i bring it up every
432
00:51:09,120 --> 00:51:15,920
community that we talk with someone about their lighthouse their local lighthouse of course we're
433
00:51:15,920 --> 00:51:19,600
a little bit biased because we're already in the lighthouse circle right that's how we start the
434
00:51:19,600 --> 00:51:27,280
conversation but it seems to be culturally significant and i think that is not so much
435
00:51:27,280 --> 00:51:33,120
in the physical presence of lighthouses but people's experiences you know they have memories they
436
00:51:33,120 --> 00:51:38,720
travel with family they go out there sometimes they see ghosts you know there's all sorts of stories
437
00:51:39,760 --> 00:51:45,920
and even to modern day with people living around lighthouses and i think it's we've talked with
438
00:51:45,920 --> 00:51:52,240
folks and this always comes up maybe i always bring it up but it just seems so significant to
439
00:51:52,240 --> 00:51:59,040
me it's it's really been a pleasure to hear some of your experiences out there yeah today because
440
00:51:59,040 --> 00:52:03,760
we everyone loves history we love to read and hear about things that have happened but when you're
441
00:52:03,760 --> 00:52:10,320
talking about living history about modern day events and feelings that may or may not be captured
442
00:52:10,320 --> 00:52:17,840
you know by a cell phone like you said or in a book or on an interview there's so much of life
443
00:52:17,840 --> 00:52:23,280
that is not recorded but it's really special it's it's something to appreciate it it's really cool
444
00:52:24,560 --> 00:52:32,480
absolutely and i i have a respect for lighthouses they keep ships from sinking and um it's a
445
00:52:32,480 --> 00:52:41,520
it's a i i i i respect lighthouses i do um but people always say oh here look at this lighthouse
446
00:52:41,520 --> 00:52:46,800
or let me get you this lighthouse statue oh you love lighthouses don't you i love a lighthouse
447
00:52:46,800 --> 00:52:58,880
yeah and by proxy all of her cousins you know but i love a lighthouse yeah she's mine we have
448
00:52:58,880 --> 00:53:06,320
something that no one else has had and that no one else could ever take from me yeah incredible
449
00:53:06,320 --> 00:53:11,040
desiree you have anything else you want to talk about today no um thank you guys for keeping the
450
00:53:11,040 --> 00:53:20,240
light on uh and spreading the word about um our beautiful lighthouses that are just few and
451
00:53:20,240 --> 00:53:26,000
far between more and more these days yeah and we're so grateful that you could talk to us and
452
00:53:26,000 --> 00:53:30,800
share all of your genuine experiences with the lighthouse because you know in our episodes we
453
00:53:30,800 --> 00:53:38,160
cover the history and things that we find online but the real feelings so like the genuine human
454
00:53:38,160 --> 00:53:43,280
experiences there can't really be captured in just short summaries of things that happen in
455
00:53:43,280 --> 00:53:49,200
history so we love to be able to expand especially on specific lighthouses on those really really real
456
00:53:49,200 --> 00:53:56,400
things it's really real and it's really hard i know that i'm over here like rainbows and magic
457
00:53:56,400 --> 00:54:05,840
but it was hard living it was really hard living and so i respect our forefathers
458
00:54:06,880 --> 00:54:12,160
in a way that i didn't before yeah definitely i don't know how to end it any better than that
459
00:54:12,160 --> 00:54:18,880
it's such a pleasure okay sounds good well keep in touch uh let you know when this airs and uh
460
00:54:18,880 --> 00:54:23,760
see what we can help you with or talk to you about in the future yeah definitely great thanks so much
461
00:54:23,760 --> 00:54:28,320
and i'll send you tons of stuff and you can pick what you want okay thank you so much thank you
462
00:54:28,320 --> 00:54:37,040
all right bye guys bye well that was a fun interview what are we like 80 years old yeah um
463
00:54:38,400 --> 00:54:39,600
i'll just say uh
464
00:54:42,320 --> 00:54:44,080
you wouldn't even let me do it you just do it
465
00:54:44,080 --> 00:54:51,760
so check us out on our website the lighthouse lowdown.com you can send us an email the lighthouse
466
00:54:51,760 --> 00:54:57,440
lowdown at gmail.com and you can check out our instagram we have a youtube uh you can listen
467
00:54:57,440 --> 00:55:04,560
our podcast anywhere um all of that you can find on our website thank you vince for planning this
468
00:55:04,560 --> 00:55:18,800
interview and executing it oh so Vince is mad at me you say bye see you next time on the lighthouse
469
00:55:18,800 --> 00:55:35,040
lowdown bottom all the way no
470
00:55:48,800 --> 00:55:49,040
you
