I love lighthouses and tour them whenever I can.  I think they are more than just a symbol of safe passage and a ‘light in a storm’ kind of thing.  To me they symbolize unwavering determination in the face of danger and destruction.

I have lots of favourite lighthouses; Cape Spear Lighthouse in Newfoundland is one.  The keeper’s house was built literally around the lighthouse so one corner of every room was rounded around the tower.  

But when someone mentions the lonely and difficult life of a lighthouse keeper, I always think of the image above, a photograph by Jean Guichard of a lighthouse in Brittany, France.

Can you imagine living there?  No cute little island with carefully tended vegetable garden for him, no sir.  He lives on a piece of concrete that is somehow connected to the bottom of the ocean.  How did they even build that?  

Forget getting a breath of fresh air on a windy day.  One step outside and you could literally be washed away.  It is the stuff of nightmares.  

Luckily I have seen a clip of this moment and am relieved to tell you that he slips inside the door just before the wave crashes around.  Still, I can’t help wondering who is living there now, and marveling at their resilience.