Rubha nan Gall (Stranger's Point) Lighthouse

The storm became a calm. The seaweed on the rocks hid a family of otters, playing. Nicholson locked the door of his keeper’s cottage with some emotion, years of wild weather and salt sea having worn his face. He was a rugged walking sundial, a surprisingly long neck protruding from his dark blue jersey. He looked in the windows of the small house, now bare and cold. He had arranged to stay with an aunt on the mainland, in the short term. He could still hear the echoes of arguments with other keepers, small things, like over mashed potatoes or who had won at games of cards. The weather changed, and yet it stayed the same. There was always danger to those at sea, and the brighter light of the Stevensons’ designs had saved many by now. Time marches ruthlessly. Now he and others like him were redundant, put out of work by a flicking switch based now in Edinburgh. One switch far away would automate the lighthouse, make his service obsolete.

     Nicholson looked past the cottage, up at the lighthouse itself. It was white and round and simple in its way, a giant thimble perched up on the rock to negotiate the needlework of the rough coastal seas. Those patterns could be rough indeed. Now there would be no help on hand for those in trouble, other than the coastguard, sometimes covering huge stretches of coast. Lighthouses were resolutely local, their squat yet angular presence a comfort to those on land as well. A manned station represented a helping hand outstretched in a way a switch far away in Edinburgh could not.  

     Nicholson remembered the routines of the lamp, fighting to overcome the wind and the storms. He was used to the rain, but respected it, taking no risks. The sun shone brightly, as if to emphasise he was no longer needed. He rubbed at the corner of his eye, then began to walk away, down the coastal path he knew so very well. The lighthouse stretched tall as a needle behind him, though it was not as tall as many others of its kind. It marked true north for him. He paused to watch the otters. He had a better eye for them than many tourists. Now, he was heading south.