Today, I am thankful for those reminders that danger lurks ahead.
Business travel can be both a blessing and a curse. For many years, my wife would tease me that I was the world’s exemplar of an “accidental tourist.” That is, I would visit some incredible country, like Japan, South Korea, India, China, Portugal, or the United Kingdom, but fail to see anything but the inside of a hotel conference room or the hallways of a large convention hall. Sadly, she was correct. I was never a great fan of personal exploration while on a business trip. However, about 5 years ago, I had a reversal in my thinking, when I realized one day that I was truly missing an enormous opportunity to explore the world. So, I made a pact to myself that I would always find at least a few hours on a business trip to visit some local site of public attraction.
Recently, on a trip to London, I decided to take a ride on the Underground to visit Hyde Park. As I boarded the train, I was immediately reminded to “mind the gap” so that I would not slip into the crevice between the platform and the train. As I climbed the stairs to exit the Marble Arch Station, the pictures of footprints on the escalator indicated where I should stand so others could pass me by. Finally, as I walked outside to cross the street into Hyde Park, I was reminded to ‘look right,’ as even Brits recognize that their citizenry drive on the wrong side of the street in the United Kingdom. All these cues were welcomed reminders for a weary, jetlagged traveler scouting a foreign place. The dangers that lurked around me were alien to this explorer of an unfamiliar land.
So, it really should come as no surprise that humans have been providing guideposts to alert strangers of potential perils that they might face as they approach a distant land. Take, for instance, the lighthouse. The construction of towers or buildings to warn maritime travelers of impending hazards, such as treacherous coastlines, shoals, reefs, or rocks, trace back to ancient Egypt. The Pharos of Alexandria, built on a small island in the Mediterranean Sea sometime in the 3rd Century BC, was a lighthouse that reached a miraculous 330 feet into the sky. Regarded as one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, this granite structure contained a furnace at its peak that would emanate light. It would survive at least 13 centuries until an earthquake would herald its collapse. Today, according to the Lighthouse Directory (yes, there is such a thing!), more than 18,600 lighthouses stand around the world, including some 700 in the United States. Although the oldest standing structure built in the 2nd Century AD resides in Galacia, Spain (The Tower of Hercules), the oldest location in the United States resides on a small island about 8 miles east of Boston Harbor. For many years after the settlement of Beantown, lives were lost trying to navigate its hazardous and rocky shores, leading to the unnecessary death of many British travelers. On this day (July 23) in 1715, the General Court of Massachusetts passed a bill to build the ‘Boston Light’ on Little Brewster Island, a small spit of land only 600 feet by 250 feet wide. To pay for its construction, all ships passing into or out of the harbor would be required to pay one penny per ton. Using tallow candles as its source of light, the 50-foot lighthouse was finally erected in September 1716. There it remained intact for 60 years until British troops opted to burn it upon their departure of Boston in June 1776, around the start of the American Revolution. After the Revolutionary War was won, a new structure 7 feet wide at its base and 75 feet high was rebuilt on Little Brewster, where it still resides today. Although now fully automated, the lighthouse still provides a flashing white light with the assistance of a second-order Fresnel lens, which is visible for nearly 27 nautical miles.
Sometimes, we all need a beacon to help guide us to safety. Although lighthouses can help serve in this capacity, their limited number of less than 20,000 in the world of 7 billion souls, really preclude their reach. Perhaps we can all be the light for each other, guiding one another to safe shores in a precarious, rocky world filled with occasional darkness.
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