Thanks Keefie for the confidence booster!!! Much obliged.
I was sure that there was a place on here for blogs and if there is, I can't find it. Oh well... must have been somewhere else.
And so I'll try to keep this as short as possible without leaving any of the important details out.
The lighthouse that Paul used to create this pattern is known as the "Cape North Light." My uncle Willie was the head light keeper of the light for many years. The light was situated on Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia, in a place the locals called "Money Point." It was a very remote place. The only way to get down to the light was either by boat or by maneuvering a terribly steep grade down the side of the mountain in a 4 wheel drive jeep. In the winter you had to use a snowmobile to get there. The light was on the edge of a 100 foot rocky cliff that dropped straight down to the ocean's shore.
When my uncle first go the job at the light, three men were needed to man the three 8 hour shifts. Each man had their own house in which to live with their families. One of the main duties was to climb to the top of the light and crank it - kind of like winding a very big clock - so that it would keep revolving for another 4 hours. Also, the man would have to keep a close watch for any signs of fog... and in the event that the fog did roll in, he had to go down to the "fog alarm building" and activate the alarm. I'll tell you this: When that alarm blew, the whole house would literally shake to the rafters.
It should be noted that I spent a lot of time at Money Point with my uncle as a kid. I would spend hours playing at the top of that light. The view of the ocean from up there was spectacular and I never tired of it.
My uncle passed away in 1975 - at the age of 54... such a sin for such a great man to go at such an early age. We were very close, my uncle Willie and I.
Shortly after his passing, the Canadian government decided to completely automate the light to where a human light keeper was no longer needed. And so, they dismantled the light for the second time in it's history and shipped it to the Canada Science and Technology Museum in Ottawa, Ontario where it still proudly stands to this day. I have been to visit the light quite often over the years and get goose bumps every time I see it. The only thing is that I've never been able to climb to the top since it has been moved to it's new resting place. It seems I'm never there at the time of the tours they give.
Here are three great links to read some of the complete, fascinating history of this light:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cape_North_Lighthousehttp://www.flickr.com/photos/26766574@N08/5458294697/http://www.lighthousefriends.com/light.asp?ID=1455Here is a picture of "Money Point" present day. If you zoom in you will see the concrete base on which the light once stood on the left, and the foundation that my uncle's house once rested on, to the right.
http://marinas.com/view/lighthouse/1167_Cape_North_Lighthouse_NS_CanadaFor those of you who are planning on cutting this pattern and once it is finished, you can actually tell anyone who will listen the story behind your project. Also, if anyone does complete this project, I would LOVE to see pictures of how it turned out!!!
Thanks for listening... Hope I didn't ramble on for too long but I figured that this may be interesting to some of you out there!!!
Bobby
