Poland's Lighthouse of the Geese

Summer on the Polish coastline is typically pleasant-plentiful sunshine and clement breezes off the Baltic Sea, with temperatures in the low 70s. Baltic summers are similar to those of my home in the Pacific Northwest, where days are cool, dry, and sunny. But in July 2010 a heat wave gripped Europe. When it reached Germany, Poland, and Russia it stalled for several weeks, driving temperatures into the high 90s. The unseasonable spate of hot days happened to coincide with a U.S. Lighthouse Society tour of Poland's lighthouses. The morning of July 16, 2010, on the Western Pomeranian Coast of the Baltic was the hottest, but it would be a memorable day in many ways, not the least being the society tour's visit to Gaski Lighthouse. It lies about nine miles east of the old port city of Kotobrzeg, called Funkenhagen by the Germans during their imperial dominion over this part of Poland. The Parsqta River makes its way out of the interior of Poland here and creates a deep estuary at Kolobrzeg The city was so important to trade in the days of Poland's Hanseatic League membership, a light was placed on the harbormaster's quarters as early as 1666.