Preserving the Memories
Back to the Rock The six horse sailing motor had been pushing our small sailboat through the fog for a couple of hours when my father announced we should be arriving any moment. As he said that, the fog horn that we had been tracking gave another blast that sounded very near by, but from exactly which direction was hard to know. Just then, at a distance that relieved my mother, a majestic lighthouse perched on a lonely small rock emerged out of the fog. Distance was important because the light marked an area of rocks and reefs that had sunk a number of ships in the past. Relief also to us kids because it meant we were close to our destination of Isle Royale, and that soon we’d be getting off of that 22 foot sailboat. Rock of Ages lighthouse, a tall tower that sits on a small rock at the southwest end of Isle Royale, is the gateway to the Isle of many smaller islands, coves, and bays with great protection from the big lake. To me, when I thought of how the 137 foot, ten story tower m