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Hatteras Lighthouse Appears from the Mist
By Bruce Wilkins
 Standing at the point where it once stood, the Hatteras Lighthouse was invisible. (Breeze Photo By Bruce Wilkins) |
BUXTON, N.C. - A high point for most visitors to the Outer Banks is seeing the magnificent Hatteras Lighthouse in Buxton. So many times have I had this pleasure, but during the morning of the "Outer Banks Blizzard of 2003," I saw it as I have never seen it before. Solitary, snowy, and supreme.
at morning, the Hatteras Lighthouse was a stop that I thought I would not be able to make in my photographic coverage of the region. I had already heard over the radio that the lighthouse was closed. And there was simply no walking from Highway 12. It was just too bitterly cold and the intensity of the storm was increasing by the minute.
But then as I passed the entrance, I noticed no gates were closed, so I just drove in. While indeed no man-made barriers were present, Mother Nature was doing her to keep me from visiting the famous lighthouse. The snow in the road was piling up, and the heavy winds were creating gusts at every break in the treeline. I guided myself to the parking lot following one fresh set of tire tracks which I later learned was from Outer Banks aficionado Alan Watson’s truck.
 Halfway from where the Hatteras Lighthouse once stood, the structure finally came into faint view. (Breeze Photo By Bruce Wilkins) |
As soon as I reached the last bend to the parking lot next to where the lighthouse once stood, I was struck with a sense of sudden amazement. The massive structure was completely invisible! I got my camera, suited up the best I could for the venture to the lighthouse, and then reached the exact center of the lighthouse’s prior location. Looking directly through the - ironically - snow fence - it was still out of sight.
I began walking slowly towards the lighthouse, directly in the middle of its path. Halfway there, it was still hidden and a hint of despair quickly emerged. Suppose the storm had toppled it over? The winds were certainly not hurricane force, but stranger things had happened, I reflected.
Then, as I continue to edge forward, the Hatteras Lighthouse slowly - with its noble purpose - appeared from the mist.
On a clear, sunny day the lighthouse is a monumental and omnipresent work of art. But on a day of forty to fifty mile per hour gusts of snow and biting wind chill factors, some would think its majestic nature would be somewhat lessened. But it was quite the opposite. As I walked closer and closer and its swirling black and white markings became more pronounced, I had this sense of the overwhelming timelessness of the Hatteras Lighthouse.
 Up close and personal and as powerful as ever. (Breeze Photo By Bruce Wilkins) |
Then there was another feeling...a metaphysical impression that came over me as I was a hundred feet away. It seemed as if the lighthouse itself was actually looking down on me. Wondering why this lone individual had come to its feet, in such piercing wind and blinding snow.
The answer is simple. It is known by one and all who view in person this universal icon of steadfast ideals. I had come because this is more than a lighthouse. It is that inner core in all of us that stands for perseverance and respect. The Hatteras Lighthouse isn’t just bricks and mortar. It is a redeeming part of our collective soul.
