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It would seem that a little special treatment comes with the job. On our trip to Sheffield Island to document and report on a classic New England Clambake, we were invited to climb to the top of the historic Sheffield Island Light, which had been closed for renovations since the 80s. This photo was taken from the catwalk around the outside. I was eager to get out there because the glare on the inside was messing with the view. Not only that, we had already been shown around the areas of the house normally closed, I had to see if we could push one more boundary. When I jokingly asked Jim, the extremely friendly Lightkeeper if I could step through a precarious, thigh-high hatch, he replied with a daring cock of the head and a “go for it.” There’s usually two ways around getting to do something not normally allowed — either you ask permission or you ask forgiveness. When you’re 50 ft. up and 2 miles from shore and you don’t own the boat that got you there, ask permission first.