The Lighthouse Keeper
BY DANIEL W. DRAKE ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER
Hawkeye was perched atop the highest branch of one of the tall, dead, pine trees that we can see from our kitchen window. He had been there for quite some time, settling in after he chased a couple of highly indignant crows away. From his perch, Hawkeye surveyed the neighboring terrain for movement - a leading indicator of dinner.

Those pine trees have been dead for years. In a storm one day soon, they will come crashing down, covering the adjoining road in a tangle of dead wood. In the meantime, the local avian population takes advantage of the tree owners' neglect. There is, pretty much, a free-for-all for the prime roosting spots; that is, until a hawk establishes the pecking order.

As my wife, the dog and I started out on our constitutional, passing under the trees to pass them and checking them out for visible signs of immediate structural failure with our usual, skeptical eye, Hawkeye called down to me, "Where is everyone? It's awfully quiet on this island."

"Hello. You're right," I said. "It's school vacation week. It seems like everyone has taken off." My wife and the dog were disappearing around the corner by the large, overhanging poison ivy bush a couple of hundred yards down the road. I debated whether to follow.

"Don't you think it would be better if people went off a few at a time?" the bird asked. "Otherwise it's a bit like the ferry. If you don't unload it evenly, it will tip over."

"I am not sure what that has to do with anything," I replied. "A good many people leave because it is school vacation week and it's the only time they can get away as a family. It's a good time to go skiing, or find somewhere warm, or visit family or friends. Then there are other people who, not having children of school age, don't have a vested interest in school vacations, but they leave now anyhow - well, because it's the end of February, the beginning of March. So, everyone goes off pretty much at once. Some will be back in a week; others won't be back for three or four."

"I like this time of year," Hawkeye retorted. "Things start to get a little livelier in the fields, but there isn't all that thick grass and stuff which the critters use as hiding places. They are all a little bit scrawny from the winter, but I couldn't imagine being away now."

I wondered where this conversation was going as I realized that I had lost my walking companions.

"What are you trying to say, Hawkeye," I asked.

"It's simple," the hawk replied. "I am saying that with no one around, it really has to be dull. There's no one to talk to. And it must be very tough on businesses. Twelve people in a bar over the course of an evening, isn't going to do much for anyone."

"It does have its downside," I said. One example is there were only maybe 120 people watching the boys' basketball, first playoff game on Monday. And, because the Whalers won, when they play again on Wednesday, there isn't likely to be any more of a crowd. The girls will face the same thing with their first playoff game on Thursday. There should be more people cheering the teams on. But maybe it's better, if it has to be quiet, that it is for the first couple of games. When it gets to be crunch time in the later rounds, that's when the crowds need to come out - and people will be back for that

"And it is difficult for the yearround businesses. This may be their slowest week of the year.

"But your analogy to a ferry boat is way overdone. Sure there is an imbalance between those who are still aboard the island and those who have left, but it isn't serious enough to cause any problems. That pine tree you're sitting in is much more dangerous.

"You are slipping," Hawkeye said, obviously not caring about my observation on the state of the tree. "Usually you are much smarter than you seem today. Maybe you need a vacation."

"That's not in the cards for a couple more months, I answered. "And there will be a lot of filtering of the water going over the dam between now and then. The town election will be interesting; we are just beginning the campaign season. There are some candidates with really good potential."

"I know," Hawkeye, interrupted. "Soon you will see the candidates running around at the dump. When they stick their heads in windows of people's trucks, from the air it looks for all the world like they are trying to sell illegal substances."

I ignored him and went on. "And then there is Town Meeting. It could be the longest in years - what with all the government stuff and all the zoning changes. Alot is being crammed into the next couple of months.

"You know something?" Hawkeye said, suddenly pensive. "I keep hearing how hard it is to get people to stay around Town Meeting for the zoning articles. My idea is, if you mixed the government study committee articles in with the zoning articles you would get people to stay. Some of the old timers might fall asleep during the zoning discussions and you have to figure out how to keep the younger folks from answering their 726 text messages, but they would be in the hall and ready to go when they are needed to decide, by two-thirds majority, what the person who is in charge of the town should be called. And a drawing for one of Mrs. Flanagan Stover's cakes between each article would help a lot too."

"Hawkeye, my friend, you don't get it." I answered, a bit testily. "You said yourself no one is around. So, it doesn't make sense to come up with any good ideas this week. No one is here to listen to them, or in my case, read them, and, frankly, those who are here are too busy trying to keep their sanity, win their basketball games, start the caretaking chores they have been putting off since September or make ends meet, to pay any attention to them. So keep your thoughts for another day."

"But ..." Hawkeye, sputtered.

Just then my walking companions reappeared from behind the poison ivy bush and saved me from further trouble. As we walked back to the house, I had the distinct sense that Hawkeye was eying the

dog and doing some mental calculations. I

The "Lighthouse Keeper" reflects the views of the author and does not represent the editorial position of The Nantucket Independent. Please send any ideas or comments to drake@nantucketindependent.com.