Monday, August 17

Lawrence revealed!

Today I come clean on the story of Lawrence. But first a report of the days activities.

It was hot and humid today. The haze kept visibility low. We had some visitors, but nothing like the weekend. Three paddled kayaks over from Small Point and Ken Young brought out some friends. The water is pretty nice now and I’m sure we will be playing around in it during the next few days.

I went to the cove to help Ken in with his guests and Brenda stayed at the lighthouse. I spackled the bathroom ceiling and ran a temporary electric service to the small refrigerator on the guest side of the house. At least they will have somewhere to keep drinks cold.

During the hottest part of the day, humidity reached the point where advection fog formed along the shore of the island. From our vantage point it appears as a cloud close to shore and seems to be about fifteen feet thick. Eerie.

On one of my trips to the shop I saw Lawrence. He was sitting on the workbench. He seemed happy, even ebullient. He was a happy camper. He said that a puddle of water was hard to find because we haven’t had rain in a while. But since we cleared a path to that old dump area, and there was water in there, that is what he used to see himself. So I asked if he was surprised and he replied “no, why would I be surprised”. I said “You do realize you are a mouse don’t you? That’s why you disappear and scurry off so quickly. I don’t know how you can talk to me but it’s not the first time I’ve heard of a talking mouse. After all there is Mighty Mouse, Minnie Mouse and, of course the most famous Mickey Mouse.” He said “Of course I know I am a mouse! It’s even in my name dummy. My last name Esuom is mouse spelled backwards. I am Lawrence de MOUSE. Lawrence THE MOUSE, LARRY THE LIGHTHOUSE MOUSE!” I said “OK, OK I get it, but the way you were talking I wasn’t sure if you knew that or not”. He said “oh yeah, I come from a long line of meese. My great, great grandpappy told a story of when some old relative got washed ashore in a boat wreck. He said the name of the boat was the “Lavinia Belle”. I said “That name rings a bell with me, I’m going to look that up” (below is the story of the “Lavinia Belle”). I asked him if there were more mice around and said that is why he is so happy and that thanks to our talk he is now able to see the lady meese that are all around and he was having the best time of his life. I said that was great and told him to enjoy himself but not to wear himself out because I have a special request. My grandson, Mr. Wesley, is arriving tomorrow and one of his favorite things to do is go mouse hunting. Lawrence looked at me funny and said “hunting?” Quickly I qualified that by explaining that Mr. Wesley is only three years old and likes to run around with a flashlight looking for mice. This all started at his Uncle Brooks’ house and has developed into his favorite game.

A while back when we first arrived at the lighthouse I made the mistake of telling Mr. Wesley about the ghosts on the island. His dad told me to lay off the ghost stories because he was saying he did not want to visit here. So I told Wesley that Lawrence was a mouse and it was a secret between him and me and that when he came he could go mouse hunting. That is how and why Lawrence was “born”.

OK, back to the conversation. I asked Lawrence to go along with Wesley’s mouse hunting. To run and hide and have fun with him. Lawrence said he would be happy to do so and he asked if his relatives could join in the fun. I told him not to invite them, that too many meese would not be a good thing.

Close to the laundromat that we use on shore is a Goodwill store that we frequent every week. You never know what is in there. Brenda has bought curtains, puzzles, etc. One thing we recently found is a headband with goggles and two lights, one on each side. Brenda bought it and I got it working. We will surprise Mr. Wesley with it tomorrow. Of course we are going to have to find some toy mice at Walmart tomorrow. We are also working on creating Lawrence.

Hey, we’re all kids at heart. Or we should be. There is nothing better than seeing a kids eyes lite up with excitement and laughing like hell over something this stupid. Stay tuned.

The Wreck of the Lavinia Belle

The 154 ton, two masted, schooner Lavinia Belle of Bangor set sail from the Kennebec in the middle of June 1898 on a routine trip to Boston. On board was a full cargo of 120 cords of edging loaded upriver at the Berlin Mills in Farmingdale. The lumber would not all fit in the hold and the excess was carried on deck, as was the custom on coasting vessels.

The passage was uneventful until the night of June 17^th, when a heavy gale was encountered off Boon Island and the schooner began to leak badly. During the following day the leaking continued unabated, and Captain Harry Olsen, became increasingly concerned for the safety of his 52 year old vessel. Unable to make progress against the storm he decided to change course and head for the protection of Portland Harbor. Darkness intervened before Lavinia Belle reached Portland and Captain Olsen, uncomfortable with a night approach, elected instead to try for Boothbay further to the east.

While eight miles southwest of Seguin Island disaster struck the now thoroughly waterlogged and dangerously unstable vessel. At 4:00 AM on Sunday morning of the 19^th, Lavinia Belle rolled over on her beam ends spilling her deck load of edging into the sea and leaving Olsen and five others marooned on the small portion of hull remaining above water.

Apparently the schooner’s yawl boat had been launched previous to the capsize and towed astern as a safety precaution. As a result of the accident it had become inaccessible, probably still attached to a submerged section of rail, but floating beyond reach.

Things looked bleak for the crew, now being constantly drenched by the spray. After two hours spent braving the storm in their precarious position, they finally had a change in luck. The yawl boat drifted near enough so that it could be secured, and the six men scrambled aboard. Undaunted by the fact that they possessed only a single oar, the cold and hungry survivors were able to make it to Popham Beach. A hard trip they later recalled, which none cared ever to experience again.

The schooner, kept afloat by her cargo of lumber, subsequently drifted ashore on the southeast side of Seguin Island where it was initially believed the vessel would become a total loss. After providing succor for the shipwrecked crew, the Popham Beach lifesaving crews went out to Seguin to assess the situation. It was soon reported that they were at work trying to save the wreck.

In the meantime, Captain Olsen engaged the Morse & Company tug Adelia to salvage the schooner. That evening the Adelia towed the Lavinia Belle, still on its beam ends, up the Kennebec to Bath where it arrived early Monday morning of June 20th, the ordeal finally over.

We are looking forward to seeing family tomorrow. We know that Wesley has grown and he will probably surprise us. They plan to leave around midnight tonight and meet us tomorrow at 1000. The weather man says that we will have another hot day or two and then it should cool off some.