![]() Gone is the picket fence, the garden that overlooked the harbour, and the sea-hardened main lighthouse keeper who did not know what to make of the long-haired, hippie couple he was forced to share an island with. But what he remembers most is the life outside of work, and all the things that have been lost. Drew’s primary job as assistant lighthouse keeper was to maintain the buildings, run the big diesel generators and keep a logbook of ship traffic. The old wooden lighthouse on the island was torn down and burned in 1990, and the homes nearby were abandoned. ![]() “They said you’ll have to self-isolate for two weeks. Drew returned to Nova Scotia in March after doing some veterinary work in Labrador, at the start of the COVID-19 crisis, she was advised to follow physical-distancing requirements. It’s also a pretty good place to ride out a pandemic. ![]() Drew’s little green boat, which was found in a hidden harbour, swamped, five days after it disappeared. Sometimes, the sea gives back other gifts, too – like Ms. At night, the only sound you can hear are the waves washing over the shore. The payoff is a lifetime of peace and solitude. Drew, who now wears a survival suit for that crossing. “I was always frozen in the boat in winter,” said Ms. The Drews learned to adapt, in a place where a trip to the grocery store in December means an open ride across the sea, dealing with salt spray that stings your face and freezes on contact. The winters are long and quiet, but they’ve filled their shelves with books and records and preserves that help them get through. When their dishwasher breaks, they have to ferry over an appliance repairman and pay him travel costs to fix it. When Hurricane Dorian tore through here last fall, they lost power for eight days. The work never ends, and power outages are common. It feels like a good way of life,” he said. “It’s hard work, but it doesn’t feel like it.
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