Amy M. Schaefer
  • Amy M. Schaefer, Writer
  • Blog: From the Front Porch
  • Novels
  • Short Stories
    • Children's Books
  • About the Author
  • Contact
  • Photo & Art Gallery

From the Front Porch

I am an "accidental blogger". When I launched my writing career in March of 2014, one of the things that I decided to include was my journaling, which I have always found to be a comforting and therapeutic endeavor.  It was a big risk to open myself up in such a public forum, but it has taught me that, for the most part, we share far more experiences than we think. It's comforting to know I'm not alone!  (*the "Button Text" is the link to my first novel)
Button Text

Vacation Chronicles: Lighthouse Lessons

7/7/2014

0 Comments

 
Picture
"The sea is emotion incarnate. It loves, hates, and weeps. It defies all attempts to capture it with words and rejects all shackles. No matter what you say about it, there is always that which you can't."--Christopher Paolini, author of Eragon.

I climbed the first hundred stairs, the late July heat making my tank top and shorts stick to my skin. I stopped to rest on one of the landings where my friend Mary was waiting for me to catch up. "Why are we doing this again?" I asked breathlessly while I basked in the ocean breeze blowing in through a window behind us. "Because we've never done it before," she replied matter-of-factly and smiled her beautiful determined smile, reminding me of why I'd nicknamed her Mary Sunshine years prior. "Right," I agreed and pressed on, only 168 steps left to go before we reached the top. Stepping out onto the observation deck at the top is like a visual slap of magic, as the sea stretches out and kisses the horizon. You are left to wonder, however brief and illogical, if it goes on forever. We'd done it; we'd climbed to the top of the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse, the tallest lighthouse in the United States and the rewards were a cool breeze to soothe hot, sweaty bodies and a view that is a reminder of just how small we really are compared to the vastness of so many other things.

Even though the wind is noisy at the top, it is not the same kind of irritating noise that everyday life often inundates us with from a hundred different directions. I watched the sea caress the golden, sandy shore and wondered at all the life teeming beneath the water's surface. Standing at this great height, I was gloriously happy to be above the surface of the Earth, my problems left almost forgotten "down there." Of course, we couldn't stay up there forever, so with reluctance and one last look, we made our way back down, offering encouragement to those we passed who were on their way up. Coming down is easier than slogging up, but the view from the bottom can and often is just as spectacular. Finding beauty from both places is all a matter of adjusting one's perspective. This is applicable to climbing lighthouses (or mountains, or sand dunes, or trees, etc.), as well as strolling through life.

Picture
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    About The Author

    I grew up in rural North Carolina. When I was only nineteen, I moved away and became a military wife. My only aspiration at that tender time in my life was to create an adult life that "fixed" all of the "injustices" of my childhood. Secretly, however, I wanted to reach for the sky! I wanted to be a writer and find ways to "save the world" (my mother used to say, "You have Save the World Syndrome".). Mostly, I wanted to matter.

    Since then, I have learned to reach well beyond what I ever dared to think was possible. I've learned not to allow fear to stop me from whatever future I want to create!

    What keeps me grounded? My Tribe! What provides the wind beneath my wings? A well of reserves filled with unstoppable passion!

    Archives

    August 2021
    March 2020
    August 2019
    June 2019
    March 2019
    November 2018
    October 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    May 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    December 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    January 2017
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014

    Categories
    A View From the Hill: Short Stories by Mattie Hill Shields

    All

    Button Text

    RSS Feed

    View my profile on LinkedIn
Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.
  • Amy M. Schaefer, Writer
  • Blog: From the Front Porch
  • Novels
  • Short Stories
    • Children's Books
  • About the Author
  • Contact
  • Photo & Art Gallery