Tuesday, May 04, 2010

I Envy the Wind

I'm sure this will sound queer (shut up Morty and Jon! oh and David & David, for that matter), but I am really enthralled by wind turbines and even more so, at wind farms.

Not just for what they do, but how they look.

I saw these turbines on a recent work trip to Maryland, just last week. I came upon this sight near the Pennsylvania/Maryland border. It was quite a sight to see on the winding back roads in Appalachia.

It really is a beautiful part of the country - even when you drive through places called Elk Lick. That is Elk Lick, PA and Elk Lick, MD. ....and no, it's not like Kansas City, MO and KS - they are not next to each other.

Something about them just reads as 'majestic'. It sounds over the top, but that's the word I keep to which I keep coming back. Maybe it is the way they reach into the sky or how their arms rotate with the breeze. I'm not as taken by seeing only one of them, but when they are in numbers it is different. I don't know why.

It's not just what they do for the environment, but unlike some, I find them aesthetically pleasing. Granted, from the car, or a mile away, I cannot hear the wooshing sound their propellers make and I understand that can be disconcerting for whomever has to live close to them.

But guess what? It's also not a "drill-baby-drill" situation like we now have in the Gulf of Mexico. I really do not understand how ecology groups rationalize that by putting in the wind farms that they will destroy the land. I kind of figure you have to pick your battles over what the bigger impact - or worse, damage - will be to the Earth. All environmentalists are not created equal, I guess.

There have been talks to put these turbines out in Lake Erie, which have some folks screaming. I say, "do it". It helps with energy and to be honest, I think they'd look cool as hell sticking out of the water in the middle of nowhere. Fuck - they let snow-mobiles out on the lake in winter, so do not tell me about ruining the natural resources.

My images, to me, don't convey the beauty that these guys seem to have either. Taken by the side of the road, my camera and its limited settings can only do so much to capture what I saw with my nekkid eyes. As for the top picture, you are only seeing about half of what is up on the mountains. The entire range for what seems like miles are wind turbines.

The first time I think I saw something like it was near Palm Springs, driving in from Los Angeles in 1992. There seemed to be dozens, maybe hundreds of them. Hell, now even MD and PA are ahead of Ohio on conservation.

There's really no point to this post - mostly that I liked seeing the turbines and wind farms.


Song by: Lucinda Williams

6 comments:

Birdie said...

I've seen wind farms in Montana and northern Indiana. I've driven by trucks carting parts. (Do you have any idea how BIG those things are? One propeller blade is carried on TWO semi-truck flatbeds; that means it's about 100 feet long.) I'm not a fan of the aesthetics, but only because I like wide open spaces without evidence of mankind. I like the idea of low-impact energy.

I have read that there is a problem developing related to the vibrations the turbines cause in the ground, and that it is having adverse effects on human and animal health within a mile radius. I wonder what it would do to the marine life of Lake Erie.

Breenlantern said...

ANything that moves you to talk about is worth posting about. You presented these in a way I have never considered before and I doubt I will ever look at them the sameway again. We have an art piece on the plaza that is inspired by a wind turbine...I'll try to get a pic of it if it's still there and send it your way.

Jonny said...

I've driven by them in the East Bay on the way to Mary's house (Tommy's sister, not the Mother of our L-rd. Everyone knows she lives in East L.A.) and have never really heard any noise from them. All I hear is the rushing wind which turns these huge things. I guess they do have a habit of getting all Cuisinart-y on birds though.

Anonymous said...

Are you talking about wind turbines or are you really talking about hair?

cb said...

Other than the negative impact on bats and birds, I really like them too.

You should see the ones in Iowa. Where its flat and you can see for like 8 miles, you see all these wind turbines stretching to the distance...

pretty cool.

tornwordo said...

The ones out by Palm Springs have multiplied at least 10-fold since 92. You'd be amazed now.