The Lighthouse That Isn’t Quite a Lighthouse
When I first saw this structure at Marblehead, Massachusetts, I assumed it was a lighthouse.
But something didn’t look quite right.
Where was the familiar solid tower? The sweeping beam of white light? The little keeper’s cottage beside it?
Instead, there stood this rather elegant skeleton of iron, holding a small green light against the sky.
So I looked it up.
It is a lighthouse. Marblehead Light, built in 1896. But unlike the traditional masonry towers we usually picture, this one is a cast-iron skeletal tower, an unusual design for New England.
And that little green light isn’t there merely to look pretty.
It is a navigational aid, marking the left side of the channel as boats enter Marblehead Harbor and quietly guiding them on their way.
I found something rather appealing about that.
We often think of a lighthouse as something that stands majestically in the distance, sending its beam across the darkness.
But this one seems to say something simpler:
You don’t always need to illuminate the whole world.
Sometimes, a little light showing the way is enough.
And perhaps that is true of people, too.
Some lights are meant to be admired.
Others are simply there to show the way.
Boats anchored in Marblehead Harbor at the end of the day.
WORDSOUPS 