Social Distancing Tips from a Former Lighthouse Resident
Back in April, the New York Times reached out to a retired NASA astronaut, Nicole Stott, for her perspective on social distancing during the COVID-19 pandemic. For the three months she spent aboard the International Space Station, Stott relied on virtual hugs and her window view of Earth to feel close to her family.
While astronauts are the masters of social distancing, there is another career path closer to home that involves isolation: being a lighthouse keeper. Saturday Night Live leaned into this idea with their May sketch, “A Lighthouse Keeper’s Isolation Tips,” starring Kate McKinnon. McKinnon’s character, Phineas Gale, is your typical old salt, eating nothing but beans and listening to seashells. Definitely entertaining, but not the most accurate!
For some real advice from an actual former lighthouse resident, we can turn to Emily Brunner, the daughter of the last civilian keeper of the historic Hudson-Athens lighthouse. Brunner, who passed away in 2017 at the age of 92, grew up in the lighthouse during the 1930s. For seven years, Emily and her siblings learned, worked, and played within the three-story building, surrounded by the Hudson River.
An interview with Emily conducted by Betsy Miller in 2011 is full of great stories from Emily’s childhood, many of which are especially relevant today. Check out these updated tips for social distancing based on a childhood spent in a lighthouse below!
Make your bathroom a classroom
A photo showing the outhouse hanging over the Hudson.
The Hudson-Athens lighthouse was equipped with four bedrooms, a kitchen, and a living room, but the bathroom situation was less than ideal. “We had an outhouse that hung out over the river,” Emily recalled. To jazz up the room, Emily said her father, Emil, would hang “items for learning” on the inside of the outhouse door each month. “That’s how I learned Morse code and semaphore signaling.”
We don’t recommend taking your cell phone into the bathroom with you, so why not try putting up some educational reading material on the wall? Local wildlife identification guides, comma usage charts, maps of the solar system, and much more! Change them up monthly to keep things fresh. And if you’re practicing a new language, label household items with vocab stickers to learn on the go.
Expand your podcast queue
“People have the misconception that it was boring,” Emily said, regarding lighthouse living. "We always had plenty to keep us busy.” The Brunner family would regularly listen to programs on their Atwater Kent radio together.
When you’re tired of your favorite podcasts, why not copy Emily and try a traditional radio show? The website, oldradioworld.com, offers free radio programs from "The Golden Age of Radio.” Marvel and DC fans can find original recordings of Superman and Batman, literature buffs might gravitate to recordings of Frankenstein and Les Miserables, and true crime enthusiasts will enjoy “Lights Out,” a supernatural horror show from the mid-1930s.
Host a virtual game night
As the oldest of four kids, Emily was in charge of rowing her siblings to and from school in Athens each day. During the winter, Emily would catch a break and they’d all walk across the ice. To relax after school, the siblings would “play all sorts of board games.”
Since the Nintendo Switch was eighty years away, Monopoly and Sorry! are two 1930s-appropriate options. However, if you’re not interested in capitalism or alienating your housemates with an epic “Sorry!” knockout, there are tons of games you can play online with friends. From Pictionary to backgammon to Go Fish, a socially-distant game night is just a Google search away!
Try some DIY
The Lighthouse in the distance with lush greenery and blue skies.
While at the Hudson-Athens lighthouse, the Brunner family lived without electricity and running water. Emily’s mother, Mary Helen, would haul up 14 gallons of river water each day to use for laundry and bathing. “She’d strain the water,” said Emily, “then boil it on the coal-fired stove before we could use it.” The kids would stay busy and “polish the brass or paint the railings” in the lantern room.
First, take a moment and be thankful for your WiFi, electricity, and plumbing. Then, start thinking about a home improvement project you’ve always wanted to try. Maybe it’s painting an accent wall in your living room or fixing up your scratched wooden floor with a walnut. This isn’t something the Brunners had to worry about, but for the sake of your neighbors, keep the hammering and chainsaw noises to a minimum.
Unleash your inner “Hudson River School” artist
The Saturday Evening Post cover featuring the Brunner family
In 1946, the Brunner family posed at the Hudson-Athens lighthouse for the Saturday Evening Post’s December cover. The painting shows Emily’s father rowing towards the lighthouse with a Christmas tree. The rest of the family, with the artistic license of a few extra children added (rude!), waits for him on the lighthouse’s deck. According to Emily, “us kids spent a lot of time drawing.” It must have been quite an honor to be in an illustration with national circulation!
We’d love to see your artistic interpretation of the Hudson-Athens lighthouse. Tag us @hudsonathenslighthouse and @preservenys for a chance to get featured!