Climb to the Top of a Lighthouse

“As my kids practically skipped up the 177 steps, my husband and I huffed and puffed behind them trying to keep up. I really tried not to look down the spiral staircase that you could see through, but I just couldn’t help myself. The grip I had on the railing was quite impressive. I couldn’t see any reason to ever let go… Up we went, slowly but surely! After stopping a few times along the way to catch my breath, roll my long, hot pants up, and to talk myself through some confining space issues, we were at the top. I had survived the confined space in the stairwell, and now I just had to talk myself through being very high off the ground on a tiny little walkway that circled the top of the lighthouse.”

“Once we got out on the little walkway, we were greeted by a nice lady who proceeded to tell us all about the history of the lighthouse. Trying to be pleasant when you’re barely breathing (because you are worrying about falling to your death from the top of the lighthouse) proved to be quite difficult. After a short story or two, I politely excused myself to make the circle around the top so I could head back down. I have to admit, the views from the top were breathtaking, and I forced myself to stop a few times to look around and take some photos and some selfies. And it was not surprising to me that going down was much harder (for me) than going up. I had my husband stand right in front of me, and I kept my hands on his shoulders the entire way down.”

“We were to make our way back down to ground level and we were told that “on the way up, you were concentrating on looking up.” On the way down, we’d be looking down – specifically, we’d be looking at the void that is the inside of the lighthouse on our left. People panic, looking at the void. I thought the steep stepladder to the light was the worst bit. Now I started to consider a career as a lighthouse keeper. I could live up here on the second floor, never need to stand on solid ground again. I was terrified of this void that was going to turn my mind inside out. But a tour guide won’t let tourists move into their lighthouse. I had to go down. And it was fine. The first floor was just a whirl around the stairs away and the second floor took up a surprising amount of the so-called void. I did press one arm into the wall and had the other hand on the rail but that’s an old habit born of my caving days. I hopped and skipped down the stairs.”