The Lighthouse

There is this old, abandoned lighthouse that sits atop a place called Navy Hill. It is an eye sore at first glance, but there is something about old buildings that I love. I love architecture and I love to imagine how alive a place once was. I always visualize how I could restore the building and how I would change the layout. Overgrown trees surround the lighthouse and there isn’t much of a view of anything on the bottom floor. The white paint is chipped and worn down from the sun. There is a great porch that wraps around the front part of the light house. The windows have been removed exposing the inside to the great out doors and the walls have been overtaken with graffiti. Doesn’t sound too great, eh? But I loved it.

The missionaries and I entered the lighthouse and climbed the narrow stairway that spirals up to the second floor. On the second floor sits a steel ladder that leads to the top of the lighthouse. When I reached the very top of the lighthouse I was overtaken by the panoramic view of Garapan City and the Philippine Sea. The water is turquoise blue, the navy ships are resting just beyond the reef, and it is a bright breezy day.

So we just sat on the ledge of the windows and enjoyed the view. Some of us taking the opportunity to write letters to family and friends, and some of us took out our sketchbooks. I was listening to the song “beautiful day” by U2 on my ipod and just sat there daydreaming about . . . stuff