Yesterday we decided to go on a little excursion to the north of us. We were headed to this Willow Slough Fish and Wildlife area which is about 100 miles north of us. Just a little while before we got there, this is what we began to see.
To the east of the road we were traveling on, we began to see windmills that were being installed. I honestly think that saying there was 200 of them is a very conservative guess. It was a dark and cloudy day, and visibility was not that good. But they were as far as the eye could see. Just in one little area, Roger counted 40. And those were just the ones that were close to us. There were many, many more--all the way to the horizon.
I took a variety of shots, but never seemed to be able to capture in the photos what we were feeling seeing them. I was hoping to give a feeling of how big they were by shooting this semi beside the one above.
To the west of the road were windmills already in operation...notice they are all facing the same way. Again, too numerous to begin to count. We almost felt like we were in the middle of a sci-fi movie. It was an other worldly feeling.
I just have to show this photo...I almost missed the guy working up there and was barely able to capture him...going 60 mph down the highway on a dark and dreary day is not the key to to spot on focused pictures.
This photo doesn't show how cold it was...but at least the wind wasn't howling as it sometimes does. I would have went to see these alone, and can't wait to go back on a less dark and dreary day.
Yesterday we decided to go on a little excursion to the north of us. We were headed to this Willow Slough Fish and Wildlife area which is about 100 miles north of us. Just a little while before we got there, this is what we began to see.
To the east of the road we were traveling on, we began to see windmills that were being installed. I honestly think that saying there was 200 of them is a very conservative guess. It was a dark and cloudy day, and visibility was not that good. But they were as far as the eye could see. Just in one little area, Roger counted 40. And those were just the ones that were close to us. There were many, many more--all the way to the horizon.
I took a variety of shots, but never seemed to be able to capture in the photos what we were feeling seeing them. I was hoping to give a feeling of how big they were by shooting this semi beside the one above.
To the west of the road were windmills already in operation...notice they are all facing the same way. Again, too numerous to begin to count. We almost felt like we were in the middle of a sci-fi movie. It was an other worldly feeling.
I just have to show this photo...I almost missed the guy working up there and was barely able to capture him...going 60 mph down the highway on a dark and dreary day is not the key to to spot on focused pictures.
This photo doesn't show how cold it was...but at least the wind wasn't howling as it sometimes does. I would have went to see these alone, and can't wait to go back on a less dark and dreary day.
That's a MAN UP THERE? WOW - I wouldn't have guessed that at all - I would have guessed some kind of mechanism on the windmill itself. You really did shoot some great photos w/ these, but are they all a part of the "going green" thing to save energy and all that? I mean, hey, I'm not knocking it by no means - just asking. hehehe It's good to see they're going to the next level - I'd like to see some around here.
ReplyDeleteYou did a great job with these photos, but I have to say this is a hot button topic for me. I'm all for getting off fossil fuels, but there are ways to achieve that goal w/o putting up acres of these giants (I know, some people don't find them too bad, some even find them majestic - to each their own) Still, I can't help thinking about how they take up valuable land for either growing food or neighborhoods. I've heard that on arable land their structures can leech out chemicals into the soil what make it difficult to grow things. Plus they can emit low frequency humming and have a strobe effect that many people are sensitive too. Mostly I fear we are exchanging one money project (Big Oil) for another (Big Alt. Energy). Every residential solar system I've read about talks about how homes often can sell energy back to the grid. Why aren't we retooling and training people for a host of jobs that can put residential rooftop units for solar AND small wind-gathering units? The excess energy could go to back into the 'energy kitty' for others. Not only that, there are several clean, low-input high-output and 'free' energy systems, but the technology patents have been bought up by the oil/coal giants and conveniently shelved. That's why I support The Orion Project (badge on my blog). They are trying to develop and introduce these planet-saving technologies. I think wind can be a useful transitional technology, but I hate to see such huge amounts of money and land going into endless rows of turbines when it be better spent developing free energy. Of course, if it's free, then no big company can make obscene profit from it.
ReplyDeleteWow...they are a lot bigger than I thought without the semi for reference! I hope they do a good job of producing energy.
ReplyDeleteRose, I see where Deborah is going and the subject is always open for debate in the right venue; but I think most importantly here is that you took some fantastic photos!
ReplyDeleteI've seen these blades on semi trucks and they are huge. I've never seen any as close to the road as that one shot.
I love the last one alone against the sky - very nice.
Those look amazing to me! I just saw some on another blog too.
ReplyDeleteThese photos are very impressive as are the windmills too! There is a windmill farm in Maine along the Canada/US border and I was so amazed when I saw them for the first time while driving through the area. Signs of the times I guess.
ReplyDeleteI think the photos are wonderful! I would rather see these going up than acres of tract homes! I can tell you that! Though I hear they are considering putting some off-shore, which would be a great idea, I think. Still, you did a wonderful job capturing this crop of windmills!
ReplyDeleteMarie
Impressive shots, Rose. The first time I saw such things was many years ago just outside of San Francisco...they were amazing.
ReplyDelete