Weekly Photo Challenge: Twist (Lighthouse)

Lighthouses are beauty, resilience and safety: They are built to withstand and protect boaters from harsh conditions. They are majestic, remote and meant to last. Many still use Fresnel lenses, invented in 1822, to illuminate rocky shores.

Life is full of rocks that come between us and the safety of terra firma. The proverbial lighthouse warns and guides, and looks beautiful in the process. I have a weakness for lighthouses, have climbed a few and have a few little lighthouses all over my home. That would make aesthetic sense if I still lived near the water, but they are so peaceful  that, geography be damned. they should be visible to me!

The picture above is the inside of the Cape May, New Jersey lighthouse, with the usual sharply curved stairs and walls.

 

And to the left, the Montauk Point lighthouse on a wonderfully foggy day. It stands at the very tip of Long Island.

The author Anne Lamott said it so well: “Lighthouses don’t go running all over an island looking for boats to save; they just stand there shining”

 

(This post is my twist on this week’s photo challenge: http://dailypost.wordpress.com/dp_photo_challenge/twist/ )