3 times a day, a woman comes to the tower on the lake, unlocks the door & goes inside. Shortly thereafter, the sound of bells floats over the entire campus, and probably can be heard across the lake. This is not a lighthouse, though it looks like one. This is the Bell Tower. Automated bells chime every 1/4 hour, but 3 times a day they play music, and that is played by the Bell Lady.

She plays hymns and old favorites; "Oh Danny Boy" and "Abide With Me." As I walked to breakfast this morning, the melody pealing out from the Bell Tower couldn't have been more appropriate: "I come to the garden alone, While the dew is still on the roses."

Though I'm here in a professional capacity for a writer's workshop, and will take away a lot of new knowledge and wonderful contacts, my memories of Chautauqua will always be the gardens, the lake, and the sheer peace of the place. 

"And the joy we share as we tarry there,
None other has ever known."