The view from our bedroom window looks south out onto the Atlantic Ocean and always creates an opportunity for reflection. This past Monday night was so pretty. A waxing gibbous moon lighting up the water all the way to our shore. The SE wind finally bringing a breeze into our room after several calm (stifling?) nights. And the crickets being a bit louder than usual. It was a perfect night for sleep, but I didn’t want to fall asleep – our days left on Seguin are counting down. I don’t want to miss a minute of all that surrounds us here!
To say this has been a once in a lifetime experience almost sounds trite to us. As most of you know, we travel full time in our 5th wheel RV, fondly known as Winslow. We sold our house and carry all our “stuff” with us. We have had amazing experiences the last 6 years as we travel around the US & Canada. Throw in a couple side trips to Mexico and Europe. And the people we have met along the way – so energizing! We can’t imagine a more perfect way to spend our retirement. But Seguin…
This place. There is something magical about it. Maybe because it’s an ocean island. Or, maybe because there’s a working lighthouse here. Maybe it’s all the exciting history that surrounds us. Or all the adventurous boating folks that stop and spend time on Seguin and share their “once in a lifetime” stories with us. (It can’t be the mosquitoes & black flies, can it?) Or could it be Rick and I sharing an adventure not just with each other, but with all the many people that have walked on this island over generations of time.
So we will spend these last 3 weeks doing everything at least once more. Each trail will need to be walked and groomed – and photographed, lol. We must already have over a 1000 photos – plenty to clean out during this coming winter. A visitor or 2 reserved for the guest quarters. Rooms, gift shop, museum to clean. Lantern room and lens shined up a bit. Final blogs to write. Hopefully a whale sighting again. Dinners planned and prepared in this remarkable kitchen. Plenty of grass always wanting to be mowed. More jugs of water to carry up the hill. Another couple trips to town, every time a fun ride with Cap’n Ethan! We’ll start taking some of our supplies back each time, so the last load isn’t quite so huge – ha! Long time friends are coming to stay with us two nights next week – another “welcome to Seguin” lobster dinner – yum! A few more evenings playing cards. And a wealth of sunsets still.
Lily wants a few more swims in the cove, I’m sure. She loves fetching the sticks from the waves! She arrived in May as a leashed 20-month old labradoodle with absolutely no social skills around people. Because of Covid, she was always at least 6 ft away from most. Got to admit, we were a little apprehensive about how she would handle the number of visitors coming to the island. As it turns out, this was the best training ground for her. Although she still insists on greeting everyone with barking for a moment or two, she loves being able to play with her instant new friends. Tempted to jump up, she has learned to stop as soon as someone asks (well, mostly). And there have been on average 3 dogs every week to join her in chasing around the lawn – much to the joy of boaters wishing for a happily exercised dog back on their vessel. In fact one family stopped on their way back south for a 2nd visit, to tire out their doodle for the ride home – lol! Of course we love her getting all this exercise, too. We’ve tried to make sure she spends some leash time everyday, but I’m afraid she is not going to understand the concept of returning to a more structured life at an rv resort! A visitor posted a photo of her on Instagram, introducing her as the 2021 Caretaker for Seguin – that’s more her style now!
Oh yes – I think at least one more storm ahead! Fog has rolled in today (the fog horn is going) and we are happily surrounded, with any luck at all, into the night when fog intensifies the fresnel lens glow above us – hmmnn. That definitely fits in with the magical factor. And rumor has it that Hurricane Henri is headed up this way, due Sunday into Monday. Would it be bad luck to say “bring it on!” ? We’ve come a long ways since that first storm in May, chuckle.
By the way – did you know crickets can tell you about the weather? Here’s your new word – stridulation. This is a process where special body parts are rubbed together to make a noise. (Cue kids – much giggling now). On the top of a male cricket’s wing there is a scraper. They can raise their wings to a 45-degree angle and draw the scraper of one wing across wrinkles (called a file) on the underside of the other wing. Think of running your finger along the teeth of a comb. As the outside temperature gets higher, it becomes physically easier to do and the cricket’s chirp becomes more rapid. Remember all those hot summer nights when the crickets are singing? You can actually tell the temperature by counting the number of chirps. It should be surprisingly accurate. One little trick is to count the number of chirps in 15 seconds and add 37. Or, you can now use crickets instead of sheep to help you fall asleep…
Have a good night ~ see you under the light.
