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THE POINT OF AYRE IS THE NORTHERNMOST POINT OF THE ISLE OF MAN. IT LIES 10 KM NORTH OF RAMSEY. THE POINT CAN BE ACCESSED BY THE A16 ROAD FROM BRIDE.
IT IS THE CLOSEST POINT ON THE ISLE OF MAN TO THE UK MAINLAND, ONLY 26 KM FROM BURROW HEAD IN SCOTLAND.
THE NAME AYRE COMES FROM THE NORSE WORD EYRR MEANING GRAVEL BANK. STRONG CURRENTS OFF-SHORE CAUSE AN EVER CHANGING BUILD-UP OF SHINGLE WHICH LITERALLY MEANS THE BEACH CHANGES SHAPE WITH EACH TIDE.
POINT OF AYRE LOW LIGHTHOUSE
THE POINT OF AYRE LOW LIGHTHOUSE ALSO KNOWN AS “WINKIE” WAS BUILT BY1890 DAVID A. STEVENSON. THE LIGHTHOUSE IS 10 M (33 FT) TALL WITH A TWO-STAGE OCTAGONAL CYLINDRICAL TOWER WITH LANTERN AND DOUBLE GALLERY. THIS POINT OF AYRE LOW LIGHTHOUSE HAS A CAST IRON UPPER HALF OF THE TOWER HAS A SMALLER CROSS-SECTION THAN THE CONCRETE LOWER HALF. UPPER HALF OF THE TOWER PAINTED RED, LOWER HALF WHITE; THE LANTERN ROOF IS BLACK WITH A 300 MM LENS. THE LIGHTHOUSE HAS BEEN INACTIVE SINCE 2010.
"The former Lava Cast Forest Geological Area (now part of the Newberry National Volcanic Monument) was established by the Forest Service in 1942. The geological area was established to protect the many lava trees and tree molds which occur in the area. The various flows of the Lava Cast Forest were all erupted from the Northwest Rift Zone of Newberry Volcano."
"There is a one mile paved self guided interpretive trail with barrier free access. The trail loops through an area where hot molten lava erupted from the northwest flank of Newberry Volcano and engulfed a forest here 7,000 years ago. The landscape now includes the "casts" or molds, of these ancient trees. Colonizing plants, such as delicate penstemon flowers and Indian paintbrush, have taken root in the rocky soil. Ponderosa pine trees have re-established themselves and flourished as well, so that the landscape now includes a blend of the past and the present."
www.fs.fed.us/r6/centraloregon/newberrynvm/interest-lavac...
This morning I took an hour long train into the city, then rushed to my desk to draft up triplicate copies of a medical release. A brisk walk in the cold (it was lower than 20 degrees) to another train, then a longer walk through the snow on the north side to meet with a new client.
I typically represent large publicly traded multi-national companies, and design the compensation and benefit structures on behalf of these companies that affect literally millions of people. And I'm paid quite handsomely for the work. Far more, in fact, than I'm likely worth.
This morning was different though.
My client used to have a normal life, married - with two young sons. He developed late onset schizophrenia and his life slowly started unravelling. He's been homeless now for the better part of fifteen years. His ex-wife had him declared dead after he'd disappeared for over ten years and she was told he'd been beaten to death in a mugging.
He's alive. Though even that seems a bit of a stretch of things to say. His face bears the scars of multiple physical attacks. Part of his forehead is caved in from blunt force trauma. He shrugs, giving the explanation "a fight over a place to sleep."
A local agency is now paying for him to stay at a "hotel." The overwhelming majority of the hotel's guests rent rooms by the hour. Only a floor or two is for overnighters.
I met with a member of the agency in the lobby and we went up to his room. The hallway floors were bloodstained, the acrid stench of stale urine infiltrated the air - suffocating.
Inside his room, the mattress was bare and heavily stained. No pillows, no towels. A thick black sludge covered the bottom of the shower. Roaches crawled all over the walls and across the bed. A chili can with a tarnished spoon sat precariously on the ledge of the stripped bed. He had to eat it cold as there wasn't a way for him to heat it.
I'd laid my purse on the floor, and watched silently as a roach crawled inside it.
We talked briefly about what I was going to do in order to try to establish his identity. He honestly is so far gone that I'm not sure he'll remember who I am when I have to meet with him again next week.
His family has been contacted. His parents and siblings want nothing to do with him. They've effectively disowned him. Cast him aside. His oldest son visited with his ex-wife. It's definitely him - though a shell of a man that they used to know and love. They can't relate to him now. They don't know what to say. He doesn't remember them. He doesn't remember who he was "before" his given name and birthdate are figments of someone else's imagination.
He has brief moments of clarity - then it's all muddled again.
Everyone's forgotten him, it seems. It's easier to - it doesn't pain the soul as much as if they were faced with standing here with him instead of half a country away.
His name is George. And I know that for the rest of my life, I will never forget him. And I know that they haven't either. How could you? He was someone's son. Someone's husband, someone's father. He was a neighbor, a co-worker. He was a stranger passing on the street, and now he's invisible.
I am so lucky to have the life that I have. I need to do more to help other people, to somehow assuage this overwhelming guilt.
My life could've easily ended up like his did.
I cried on the train ride back to the office. I'm not the type that cries often, it's not my nature. Since I've been pregnant, things resonate so much stronger with me. I cried for George, for his neighbors in the hotel. But I also cried for my son, who I've not met yet. I cried - hoping that he would never have to know that want - that desperation. I think that was the hardest part for me. George is/was someone's son. Someone who knows where he is and just couldn't bear to deal with the truth, or worse - doesn't care.
I know we all struggle with daily inconveniences, but tonight - as you lay your head down to sleep. Please, be thankful. It could be so much worse.
"Jesus was casting out a devil and it was dumb; but when the devil had gone out the dumb man spoke, and the people were amazed. But some of them said, ‘It is through Beelzebul, the prince of devils, that he casts out devils.’ Others asked him, as a test, for a sign from heaven; but, knowing what they were thinking, he said to them, ‘Every kingdom divided against itself is heading for ruin, and a household divided against itself collapses. So too with Satan: if he is divided against himself, how can his kingdom stand? – since you assert that it is through Beelzebul that I cast out devils. Now if it is through Beelzebul that I cast out devils, through whom do your own experts cast them out? Let them be your judges then. But if it is through the finger of God that I cast out devils, then know that the kingdom of God has overtaken you. So long as a strong man fully armed guards his own palace, his goods are undisturbed; but when someone stronger than he is attacks and defeats him, the stronger man takes away all the weapons he relied on and shares out his spoil.
‘He who is not with me is against me; and he who does not gather with me scatters.’"
– Luke 11:14-23, which is today's Gospel.
Stained glass detail from the National Cathedral in Washington DC.
My new 'air-cast', I went to the hospital yesterday for a check-up on my broken foot, 'Jones fracture', they took off my purple cast, which was quite scary, seeing and feeling a fast rotating 'blade' going through the cast towards your skin! After that was off, it was off to the x-ray department, then return to see the consultant for my results...... He showed me a comparison between today's x-ray and the x-ray from 4 weeks ago, the news wasn't good, no difference, not healed at all, but he says that's normal for a 'Jones fracture' at this stage. So ..... I have to wear this air-cast now for the next 6 weeks, once it is on, there is a little pump to inflate the interior to make a snug fit, at least I can partial weight bear now, so no more 'hopping' about, yay!!! So I will be able to get out and about on crutches now, and they are red and really funky :-) , so I'm a much happier bunny now, but disappointed that it's not healing..... But onwards and upwards, just gotta get on with it I suppose!!! Not quite as glamorous as the purple cast though.......
Part of my cast iorn, the rest I have is unmarked, tho it is also very old. Most of this is Griswold. Notes on pic.
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