Monday, October 24, 2011

Wind turbines


Blogger and fiber artist Kit Lang recently posted this picture on her blog that she took on her commute to work, and asked readers to also post commute pictures.

I haven't commuted to a "regular" job for 5 years now, but do spend a great deal of time driving my kids around to school, appointments, activities and such.  I'm pretty private about my kids though, plus I'm always the driver, and can't take pictures, so I thought I'd post a picture that I recently took (while my husband was driving) of the wind turbines that have been multiplying like rabbits out here in Eastern Oregon.  It's not quite as cool as a piece of subway art, but I bet many city-folk don't see these very much. 

One thing I love about reading blogs is that I can get little glimpses of other people's lives that are so different than mine.  Something as ubiquitous to Kit Lang as a subway commute is quite exotic to me.  I've been in a subway only a few times in my life.  The experience was so mentally novel that it's imprinted on my brain.  I can still see the faces of the other commuters, and could probably recognize them in a crowd.  I can still see my kids' excited, astonished faces riding right next to me!

So I though I'd post this picture of what's becoming quite a common sight here along the Columbia River, where wind is plentiful.  Like many people here, I have very mixed feelings about these things sprouting up all over the place.  We have solar panels on our house, grow our own food, and even drive a hybrid car, but we also love the natural beauty that we find here in the more rural parts. 

So what about you?  What does your commute look like?  What do you see every day that others might not ever see?

5 comments:

Kit Lang said...

Love this little glimpse! Thanks Becky! :)

Kit Lang said...

Also, clicked enter too soon - the turbines remind me somehow of Day of the Triffids (the book, not the mini-series). :)

Jen said...

We have the "Blue Skies" thing from Pacific Power, where we pay a little extra so that some of our electricity comes from "green" sources like wind turbines, but I have such mixed feelings. Seems like there aren't very many (any?) options that have no down sides. Turbines clutter up a beautiful skyline and kill bats and birds, large scale solar panels take up pristine desert, and dams block fish passage. All are considered "green" compared to coal or nuclear powered plants. Such a dilemma! Household solar panels are a definite plus, but with our shade and the local snow loads, not feasible. Frustrating!

monika@mysweetprairie.ca said...

Will post relevant photos on Thursday! :)

Becky said...

So much fun to see how everyone lives! Jen, if you posted pictures of your "commute", people would drool! We're long overdue for a visit down there. And it's interesting living up here, where so much "green" energy comes from... Kind of reminds me of Louisiana / Texas, only green energy instead of oil. It's better for global warming, but still not pretty...