"You have My Sympathy"

Many would call the events going on in our world today rather bizarre.  I could provide a discourse on varied economic, natural, political, social and cultural to animate the thesis. yet, in my mind one occurrence this week proves the point in spectacular fashion.   My wife and I arrived in Door County for a three night camping trip to Door County this past Monday.  (Of course, we had typical Hovel family camping weather with thunderstorms on Monday "and again on Wednesday mid afternoon into evening and end of daylight.  All of you desiring rain can thank us, and to the majority who feel the intense storms are getting out of hand can take up a contribution for us to not go camping.  A nice two week stretch of weather  broke with our going camping this Monday.   We did have nice weather in Door County on Tuesday, after it cleared in mid-morning, and of course on Thursday when we left the Peninsula State Park Campground.)  But back to our topsy turvey world.  One statement can well do to prove this point of a bizarre upside down world.

Second story and light tower of Pottawatomie Light House

The main reason for our camping trip to Door County was to visit acquaintances from McFarland who are docents for this week at the Pottawatomie Light House on Rock Island.  Rock Island is about 975 acres in size and is a state park.  Many years ago, before it was purchased by an industrialist (who had the first patent on a million watt transformer) it contained some small fishing areas.  With its rocky limestone based soil, it was not good for general agriculture.  After a while the fishermen migrated to Washington Island which had better harbors. To get to the island one has to take a ferry from the mainland tip of Door County, near Gills Rock, to Washington Island, and then either bike or drive several miles to the opposite corner that is northeast corner of Washington Island to take a passenger only ferry to Rock Island.  Well, we happened to find out that my youngest sister and her husband were also in Door County at the same time.  They too wanted to see Rock Island and we together made the uphill trudge of about 30 minutes to the Pottawatomie Light House on the northwest corner of Rock Island.

Looking  NNW from light house

The light house docents this week is by a couple we know from McFarland.   Restored and operated by the Friends of Rock Island, the Friends group takes applications for docents to man the light house and provide tours during the summer from 10 am to 4 pm each day.  The docents live in the light house during the week.  In the summer kitchen of the light house the first docent provided introductory and background remarks.  The second docent provided a tour of the light house.  The docents were surprised to see us and during the tour when the second docent found out that my youngest sister and her husband were with us he said to her "You have my sympathy.

Me, my wife, my youngest sister and her husband at door from
summer kitchen to dining room of the light house

Those readers how know the docents can figure out which docent was the second.  He may well be one of the few who can out-talk my sister.  This more than any other discourse proves the bizarre state of the world in which we live.  In my mind, and I am sure in many others, the statement should be made to me and not her.  Between the two of us,  I am more quiet and reserved and she is, well,  high-spirited.  To provide one example of her high spirited nature, when she and her husband attended a circus performance at the Circus World Museum in Baraboo, a one year old seated in front of her turned around to watch her reactions and not the performance. That is, a one year old was more amused by my youngest sister than by the circus.  Although this too may show the state of our world.  And, of course, knowing the second docent it is all in fun.  He liked to provide small trivia, as William Howard Taft getting stuck in his bathtub.  Although, I noted to the docent that William Howard Taft also served us Chief Justice of the US Supreme Court.  He was appointed to this position in 1921 several years after his term as president.  The light house is restored to 1912, and William Howard Taft was president at that time, and so his picture hangs in the light house.  Hence the docent story on William Howard Taft. 

With the Docents

It was a beautiful day to tour part of Rock Island.  It is a several mile hike around the island, and perhaps at some point it would be nice to do.  Here is, at least to me an interesting geographic fact, (although my wife asked why it is important):  Rock Island is actually further east than the west boundary of Florida.  To my wife this would be trivial, but to me it is interesting.  At least the docent did not say to my wife, about me, "you have my sympathy."