Gregory and Sasha Guckenburg at Cobblestone Beach

Our last day here, it is tempting to be reflective and possibly maudlin.  A lot of people have asked what were the best and worst things about staying on Seguin over the Summer.  And really, there is no downside to the totality of the experience.  There are no single ups or downs in a a Summer here - there is only the feeling that it has been a remarkable and singly fantastic experience.

Avery Tiedge enjoying Seguin Fingerpuppets

Tyler Tiedge learning to barbeque

FOSILS lobster dinner yesterday brought about 20 to the Island to enjoy the evening.  If the weather hadn't been iffy leading up to the event it could have been larger.

Mary and I have been happy to contribute to the maintenance and upkeep of Seguin Island for the past 15 weeks and hope to find ways to continue in the future.

Aerial photo by Andrew Sims

Greg Guckenburg

Late summer goldenrod glows,
Yellow, wild and bright.
Warm days, often hot.  Cool nights.

Mary Hillery

With one week left for Mary, Mitch and me, we are reflecting on what we will miss most.

We continue to see large groups of visitors including the 45 wedding celebrants this week who chartered the "Atlantic Seal" for a pre-wedding picnic.  Below is a picture by our friend Linda Lancz of the 100  wedding guests here last week.

The only unique (to us) birds we have seen this Summer are various hawks.  This past week saw a harrier hawk chasing seagulls but it seems to have moved on.  The osprey pair also seems to have moved on after their chicks fledged.

The last weeks have also brought back many visitors from early Summer who are leaving their vacation homes and returning to Southern New England.


Greg  Guckenburg

Seguin nights, never alone.
Lights from shore and sea.
Fishing boats working, lights on.

Mary Hillery

5:15am - Greg and Mitch witness another beautiful dawn

Busy weekend.  

     About 40 Georgetowners, including many alumni and their parents from The Georgetown Central School where Greg worked for 10 years, came on lobster boats for a picnic. It was nice to renew friendships.

     Also, over 100 members of the Brunswick Adventist Church motored over for their annual picnic.  Mary met many old friends and former colleagues from Parkview Hospital,   Our first glimpse of them was a man coming up the Lighthouse trail with trays of cupcakes who said "there are about a hundred behind me."  A wedding ceremony for a young couple was part of their celebration.  Flute music echoing from the Lighthouse tower delighted all.

     Two couples from Massachusetts spent Saturday night in the guest rooms.  They thoroughly enjoyed the Island, spending their time on the trails and scenic viewpoints.

     John and Linda from Connecticut, old friends of ours, also spent a couple of nights as our guests.  Linda was able to do some drawings and John enjoyed his photography.

     Only two weeks left for us.  We will be lucky enough to host our kids and their spouses and kids for the third time this Summer on Labor Day weekend so we're hoping for a bang-up finish.

    

To Seguin, boats large and small.
Friendly people all
Leave our Cove in love, enthralled.

Mary Hillery

Forty-five kids, counselors and dogs from Small Point Camp visited Thursday, August 8.  What a great group.  Kids active, involved and inquisitive, counselors in control and dogs interacting with everyone.

Good weather has again swelled visits again.  Saturday and Sunday started at 9am and didn't stop until dusk.

Overnight guests Wymans family brought lasagna and other food.  We added some lobsters and Mary's homemade ice cream and had a feast.

Tram still down but group of young men and women helped us bring our supplies up Wednesday and they were gone before we could properly thank them.  They saved us about 8 trips up the Lighthouse Trail and made our day.

Greg Guckenburg

                                                   From Scotland or mainland?  How?
                                                   Bird, boat or sea wind,
                                                  A Seguin surprise!

                                                                                        Mary Hillery

Bill Green Show

Saturday, August 10

7:00pm  -  Channel 6

Seguin and Tram Survivor Millie Jewett

Mt. Washington, Monroe, Adams, Madison, Jefferson

Not a great picture with the the Apple Iphone but shows Mt. Washington area with great sunset 86 miles away.  With the Summer haze we haven't seen this view for weeks.

We have had cooler days the last week but visitors continue to stream in.  Even though we missed the local area heat waves earlier in the Summer, we really notice the difference.

August also seems to have turned some of our local friends to consider visiting.  Mary's hiking group and her two reading groups are planning trips out along with several family friends and our own family.

Greg Guckenburg

                                            Summer colors change.  Blooms passed.
                                            Sea birds fledged, soaring.
                                            Island joys grow as time flies.

                                                                                                  Mary Hillery

Tyler and Avery Tiedge

Finally found out what those arches in the base of the Lighthouse are for - GRANDCHILDREN!  (Actually I have been told they are there for the extra strength they provide the structure).

Heavy rains on Sunday kept a lot of people away from Seguin but Ethan's Ferry still brought a dozen Mainers. A hardy bunch.

Annual Friends of Seguin Summerfest was July 26 at the Maine Maritime Museum and included presentations by us.  Also a great dinner from Byrnes and music by "Married With Chitlins".  We almost didn't make it because of high seas but Ethan took us off the Island Thursday night.

Greg Guckenburg and Mary Hillery

The Lighthouse Dog quietly
climbs the spiral stairs.
Not for views; waiting for me.


Mary Hillery

                                           Trader Joe's gets us through the cold foggy days

Saturday high seas brought only 3 boats, each of which had some seasick sailors.  Tuesday socked in with fog and rain, we spent some time removing basement security screens for the Wednesday Warriors, cutting sumac for better views.  Mary has been exploring extending the North Trail and marking with cairns.

Our  daughter Julia and family will try to get here this weekend.  Last weekend our son Alex and family couldn't travel because of high seas. Looking forward to seeing some grandchildren again.

Guests are eating red raspberries before the birds get them.  Have only found one blueberry bush - not enough for Mary's famous Blueberry Cake. 

We had a lot of people pumped up to watch Bill Green's Maine on July 20th.  It didn't happen.  Hopefully, the segment he did on Millie Jewett(1949 Tram "Baby") and Seguin will be rescheduled.  If I get notice of the scheduling I'll put it in a blog.

Greg Guckenburg

                                                     

                                                      The human hand has touched here,
                                                      The Cobblestone Beach.
                                                      Stones from now and long ago
                                                                         Mary Hillery

     I personally slept through the 7500 lightening strikes Maine and New Hampshire got Wednesday night but Mary got to watch the show.  One sailboat came into the cove during the storm and the sailors were okay but scared.

     Ex-Coast Guardsman Don, who served on Seguin in 1971, visited the next day with his grandchildren and told us some stories of life here.  They included how water was pumped up from ships to fill the basement cisterns, not using the well and how they always walked(or rode) the tram because there was no path to the top when he was here.

    

The tram cable broke on Tuesday.  Luckily no safety issues because the tram was at the bottom and the cable broke underneath between beams it was riding on.  A group from FOSILS is looking at possible repair choices.

Greg Guckenburg

 
                                                    Seguin night is never dark.
                                                    Lens safely guides sea.
                                                    Soft halo surrounds the house.

                                                                                                 Mary Hillery

Greg and Elizabeth Hillery Tuesday evening

     Big break in the weather -Summer is back.  After 7 cloudy, rainy and foggy days the sun came out today.  Nice to get out on the trails without getting soaked.

 

     Our niece Elizabeth helped out for several days.  We'll miss her.

 

     A group from our town of Arrowsic including Sukey and Roger Heard and their family, Elizabeth Rollins and Marnie Kalkstein from the Arrowsic Wednesday Walkers on Bald Head Road and several others came out on Friday.  The summery day also brought out several other local boats from Freeport to Boothbay with small groups.

Hiking on the South trail Friday

 

Reminder:  Bill Green Show on Channel 6, Saturday, July 20 at 7pm will have a feature on Seguin.

Greg Guckenburg

 

     

                                                Pink and blue in Western sky.
                                                Seguin Island glows
                                                Summer evening's special calm.

                                                                               Mary Hillery

    

Mitch hears another group coming up the Lighthouse Trail

    
     Over 100 visitors for the four day holiday weekend.  Lots of private boats and a full cove several times.  Brisk sales at the gift shop. 
     We had several friends visit, including Paul McClanahan and Peesh Rewak, Sam and John Armentrout, both from Bath and Mary's brother Frank and wife Ellen and niece Elizabeth.  Elizabeth, 14 and entering high school in the Fall is staying several days to get a view of island life.
     We had fireworks displays all four nights.  The new law has apparently opened up many more small private celebrations.
     After a week of rain, we had a beautiful and hot weekend.  Time to catch up on mowing and weedwacking again now that grass is dry.  Oops, spoke too soon - starting to rain right now(Monday morning).

Greg Guckenburg

July 4

Many lighthouse families
before us shared joys
of summer on July fourth.

Mary Hillery

July 2

Extreme Athletes Daniel Benson and David Grody

     Bloody and bruised but with no apparent broken bones or life threatening injuries, these two guys from the Augusta area decided to drop in on us Sunday.  They had been training for the Blackburn Challenge, rowing a racing bank dory from Fort Popham past Pond Island to Popham Beach.  Heavy fog settled in and disoriented them and they were swept out to sea with 10 foot seas and strong currents.

     As they were being pushed Southward, they managed to row toward Seguin's rocky western shore. After crashing and totally destroying the dory, they were able to climb up through the poison ivy and thorny brush to the Lighthouse where I discovered them knocking on our kitchen door.

     After resting, rehydrating and getting a small snack, we got them a ride back to the mainland with SeaTow.

     If they can replace their boat, they still hope to race in the Cape Ann 20 mile event on July 20.

(left to right) Amber Jensen, Millie Jewett, Frank Smith, Mary Hillery and Norman Jewett

 

     Millie Jewett, 1949 tram accident survivor stayed overnight with friends and family Monday.  A retired Bath Iron Works designer and member of FOSIL,  Millie livened up the house on a particularly foggy and rainy evening.

 

     Bill Green came over with Millie's group to film a segment for his TV show "The Bill Green Show.  It features Millie and is scheduled to be shown on July 20 at 7pm on Channel 6, NBC. 

 

Greg Guckenburg

July2, 2013

 

 

    

                                                  Seagulls not pests!  Here, they are
                                                  parents.  Protecting.
                                                  Herring, Ring-billed and Black-backed too.

                                                                                                 Mary Hillery

Fog, Thursday afternoon, is the beginning of a storm that will probably keep visitors away for a couple of days.  Forecast high seas and high winds kept two young honeymooners from staying overnight Thursday.  They did get to spend the afternoon on Captain Deberry's regular Ferry trip.  Hopefully some other time when they don't have a plane to catch.

Mary has "become one with the lens" and it is sparkling again.  Two days of hard work wiping down the prisms has paid off.  Especially at night, the lens's halo around the house is much enhanced.
                                                                
                                         Friday morning - Foghorn has been going for 36 hours.

Looking forward to visitors next week, including tram accident survivor(1949) Millie Jewett and Bill Green from Bill Green's Maine on Portland Channel 6.

Greg

June, wild iris, pink rose here.
White blossoms promise
Black raspberries later on.

Mary Hillery

               

The weather has been sunny and mild this past week and visitors have increased. Biggest day was Friday when Captain Deberry brought about 20, mostly from The Maine Maritime Museum.  Also on the trip were Fred Kahrl from FOSILS and Tracy Ames and a helper updating the Island's eco-profile and Patti Mikkelsen from Glouster Community TV producing a video documentary. As a past light keeper, Fred was a big hit for the visitors and a great resource for us.

The Wednesday weekly work party currently working on front entry windows has been making remarkable progress.

With no TV, one of our entertainments has been setting the marine radio on scan and listening to the local fishermens' fleets from Rockland to Portland.

Our first non-relative, non-FOSILS guests stayed this week,  For their 20th wedding anniversary, Gary and Denise from Pennsylvania, who are avid travelers, visited Seguin for the first time.Mary and I know they enjoyed their stay and we enjoyed having them.

Up thirty-six spiral steps
To the lighthouse high,
The sea, land and sky so grand.

Eight little feet climbed, so strong!
Thirty-six stairs up
 Joyful, happy grandchildren,

It has been a while since our last post.  We've been preparing for and hosting our kids Alex and Julia, their spouses Sarah and Brian and grandchildren Gregory(5), Tyler (almost 5), Avery(almost 3) and Sasha(2).  We had a great sunny and warm weekend with them.  Among many pictures taken, I chose this one because everyone is in it.

Cyndy Carney took the picture and was there to help us celebrate Mary's birthday weekend and Fathers' Day.

We had cancelled the weekend party because of high seas predicted but the weather calmed down just before and we were able to enjoy a beautiful weekend.

Special thanks to Cyndy and Rick Mayo who helped on lawn and trail maintenance over the last couple of weeks.

Greg

                                                    Mt Washington in West sky.
                                                    There, cairns guide on high.
                                                    Here, single cairn guides to sea.

Ellingwood Rock(looking north of Seguin)

Between downpours and high winds the last couple of days. Mary rebuilt a cairn she had built at the end of the North trail(seagulls didn't like her first one.)  I did some minimal trail work.  Brunswick friends Jack and Virginia and her cousin Mary visited Wednesday night and left before the seas got rough  on Thursday.

     No other visitors since, because of high seas.  We expect a quieter Sunday and hopefully people will want to get out again.  Bath friends Peesh and Paul are coming out Wednesday.  We enjoy sharing the unique Seguin experience with others.

     Brunswick newspaper did a front page story and picture on Seguin and us as keepers.  Haven't been able to read it yet but I do know they spelled Guckenburg wrong(in big letters).  I hope it entices more of our friends and acquaintances to come out to visit.
The cove Saturday morning.

Greg
 

   The wind, blowing high and wild
                                                                       Never ceasing wind
                                                                      A lighthouse garden struggles.

                                                                                                     Mary Hillery

     Mary was off the Island for 4 days for a funeral of a relative in Washington, D.C.  She was supposed to come back Sunday but high seas and small craft advisories kept her out until today.
   
     My brother Barton and sister Gretchen braved the extra days(they couldn't get off either) and helped out in yard work and chores.  I had had the foresight to get some lobsters for dinner so they at least got one treat from a local lobsterman.
   

                                                            MITCH EXPLORING

 Sunday afternoon the power went out here for an hour.  The lighthouse went out and the backup came on at dusk.  With Ethan's help I found the reset and reenergized the main light. Whew.

     Twenty-four members of the Brunswick First Light Camera Club showed up Saturday evening.  Didn't get to eat those lobsters until 8:30.  They were such a great group with many members very interested in the history and operation of Seguin.

     Looking forward to some upcoming guests.

Greg

 

                                               SUNSET OVER PHIPPSBURG TUESDAY

Mary and I are really starting to think of Seguin as home.  Yesterday after running errands in Bath (and our permanent home in Arrowsic), neither of us wanted to stay on land even with rough seas for the ride back.
     Captain Ethan Deberry thought seas would be marginal for the transport but agreed to do it. Our dog Mitch was not impressed but suffered the trip okay.
     We've had our second group of visitors. Chandlers from Small Point in Phippsburg motored over Tuesday on a sunny calm day.  They are members of FOSIL and relatives of founder Nat Chandler.
     Mary has been setting up the gift shop and guest quarters for visitors.  I've been doing small repairs and weedwacking trails.  We have adjusted our behaviors to the limited water and sewer conditions here including Mary washing her hair with rainwater.
     Mary is going off Island for the weekend to attend a funeral of a relative in Washington, D.C.  Our first non-FOSIL overnight guests will be my brother and sister who agreed to come out to help and keep me company for the weekend.

Greg Guckenburg

    Pearly pink, white blooms so brief
    Growing high and wild
   Abundant food long ago.


   Mary

A raid!  Five duck eggs, now one.
Nature dictates here.
Baby gulls are hungry too.

Another nest five new eggs.
Mother squawks, waiting.
We walk on, all well for now.


Mary

For earlier posts go to www.segunisland.org

May 23, 2013

Mary and I had our first Wednesday off the Island yesterday.  We did some laundry, visited the office and did some light errands.  We met some friends at Byrnes in Bath and had a great lunch.  We brought another big pile of goods up on the Seguin tram(Greg running donkey engine and Mary up top signaling.

We will miss Michael and Cyndy.  Michael's cooking was magnificent and both Michael and Cyndy explained a lot of what our Summer will be like. Mitch, our dog, waited with Michael and Cyndy while we were off the Island.

We've been working steadily  preparing the gift shop and lawns for visitors.  Looks like heavy rain Friday and Saturday but maybe we'll see more people later in the weekend.

Greg Guckenburg