Christmas Spirit at West Quoddy Head Light
The following was inspired by the sight of a beautiful Christmas tree inside the former keeper’s dwelling – now a visitor’s center, at West Quoddy Head Lighthouse during the holiday season…
(Photo by Bob Trapani, Jr.)
A lighthouse Christmas was often festive simplicity at its most joyous. Frills were scant and at many lights a frigid loneliness lurked just outside the door. Such solitariness leaned on inhospitable winds to knock aloud, but the keepers and their families did not answer the somber visitation. For at Christmastime, there was no place in the heart for anything but light’s warmth.
What the keepers and their families lacked in fanciful gifts and extravagant meals was more than made up for with a profound sense of togetherness and the value of selflessness in service to others. High above the keepers and their families who were tucked away in humble surroundings, a benevolent light, which they kept burning bright, was going forth into the night without fail. These gleams guided and protected those upon the deep – and on this special day, the spirit of Christmas did ride.
Merry Christmas!
