The ever-present blinking Port Jefferson Village tower light

I grew up in Selden. From high atop a hill close to my childhood home I could see the blinking light from the (former LILCO, now) LIPA smokestack on the harbor. The light always seemed to mesmerize me and I often went up to the hill and meditated and prayed watching the blinking of the tower light. It was always there. No matter what was going on in my life it was there. It somehow centered me. It was something I was able to rely on when everything all around me was falling apart. It was calming. It was reassuring to a kid who had to deal with and survive constant chaos and upheaval. I moved away to university and forgot about the Port Jefferson blinking tower light.

I have lived in many, many different towns near here all through my young adult years. Whenever I went to Port Jefferson I would see the blinking light from the tower and would be reminded of my youth. Sometimes, I would forget about it and I would not see it, or maybe just not notice it, for a while. But, it was always there.

When we bought our home in Port Jefferson Village in 2002 we were so very busy moving in and getting the house ready for us to live in. One night soon after we were moved in I was sitting on the couch in our living room and looked out the window and I saw it again. The blinking tower harbor light! I hadn't noticed it, but there it was. I could see it from almost every room in our home. I instantly felt a sense of calm and tranquility enter into my consciousness. I was filled with memories of the light and how many millions of times I sat looking at it as if in a trance.

I now view the blinking harbor light each day. I can see it through the windows of our home in the scorching heat, driving rain or snowy blizzard. I no longer feel sad or fearful when I see it. I now see it as a constant reminder of where I came from and who I am today. It is a symbol to me of how everything changes all around us, yet, some things are there whether or not we care to notice them. My life today is filled with love and security. Once it was not. But, the tower light continues to blink.