Haiti Earthquake - How You Can Help

The suffering caused by the disaster in Haiti appears to be staggering. There are many ways you can help -- click here for an excellent page that lists relief organizations.

Cape Meares Lighthouse vandalism

I mostly try to stick to New England stories in this blog, but I feel I have to include something on the terrible vandalism that just occurred at Oregon's Cape Meares Lighthouse. Gunshots were fired at the lantern, breaking 15 panes of glass and damaging the rare first-order Fresnel lens. Damage is estimated at $50,000, at least. Follow these links for more information:

OregonLive.com

Corvallis Gazette Times

The reward to help Oregon State Police in the investigation has now increased to $5,000; click here for details.

I know how difficult it is to preserve a historic lighthouse, and my heart goes out to everyone at Cape Meares. I hope they're able to get the lighthouse and lens fully repaired soon, and I hope they catch the SOB(s) who did the damage.

You can help by donating -- click here.

Photo of the Day: Portland Head Lighthouse, Maine

I went to visit the offices at Portland Head Light today to copy some photos. The walking around the grounds was pretty icy, but the snow, some wispy clouds, and calm seas made for nice photos. You can see the Christmas wreath on the lighthouse; there's a story about that here.

More on Portland Head Light here.