Channeling the Wind

Mr. P. says above:

"I was pleased to read recently that a modest $3 million federal grant to a University of Maine research center will build windmills to harness the strong winds off Maine's coast to produce energy."

Shucks, if we could just harness the incessant hot wind of politician persons,
we would have enough energy at no cost to run Washington 'til the staggering national debt is paid off.

Have a raconteur friend – the best in the business, really -- who told of a rancher who claimed he had three windmills but that there was such a little amount of wind he had to take two of them down just to get enough wind to turn one.

Come to think of it, another place windy politicians would come in handy, huh?

I've found that sometimes, instead of tilting at windmills, it's better to just grab hold, hang on and go for the ride.

I'm a big fan of wind power. Ye gods, I didn't realize what I was writing just then. BUT STILL. Check my photos for a recent upload that supports my assertion...

Rhode Island. 8armed wind mill. National heritage. will upload a picture I took, soons I find it....a "ting -o-beauty, an a joy ta behold"   (direct quote)

Sweet, lasting, cherished memory: Alone, except for my loyal camera, on a far-as-the-eye-could-see West Texas ranch as the day tick-tick-ticked toward its conclusion and in the blessed and blessing stillness and the rewarding quietude of that place, capturing on film and in the mind’s eye a windmill that had survived all that its long and productive life could brutally throw at it, as the sun -- its colors and shadows ever changing and yet colors and shadows that somehow seemed to remain the same -- began to bed down for the night, giving me the abundant promise of restorative rest and deep, deep peace as it did.

The view from the second floor porch at this place is splendid and minimally represented on their site.

http://www.thewatersoshkosh.com/index.php

On a beautiful May evening we were amazed to see an extremely incensed woman sputtering and fuming in disgust at the sight of a couple dozen wind generators on the other side of the lake… more than ten miles away.
She didn't get it that I didn't get it and got more outraged when I said I thought they were beautiful.
She managed to spit out that I would live to regret ignoring her.
"I suppose," I said, "that after that first major toxic wind spill, I'll look pretty foolish."
Then I bailed… it's a long way down from that porch.

lotlot:  You are in Great Form this morning ... GOOD  ON  YOU !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
As far West in Texas as my Family goes, is Shackleford County ... Two and a Half Sections, and only Four Windmills, three of which are older than I .......
 
Mr.ISLES:  Good To See You, Sir !!! Best To You and Your Krewe !!!
 
STONEY:  GREAT  STUFF !!!   I'm getting the Image of the Little Old Woman in the Campaign Hat, from COLD TURKEY .......
 
ROADYACHT:  The Body of that Windmill must be painted to look like, a Bottle of Red Rooster ... to elicit such a Response .......

As to forces of nature here you go...http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5WJyhHqUHtY&feature=fvsr

Isles~ Just went out into the Village to check if the streets are aired, and still laughing at your first sentence.

My father in law loves windmills & whenever we travel I try to find a windmill postcard to send to him. Good to see all of you so early................it's Friday, enjoy it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

More good stuff...http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g9U_iDR7ORU

I'm under the influence of a goodly amount of some of Kentucky's finest, in particular, Buffalo Trace. A fine bourbon made only a few short miles from my current location. So, that is why I've chosen to ignore today's topic and chime in with my own brand of enlightenment. I would say something more profound right now but damned if I can think of anything. At least the spelling and punctuation are close...

Kentucky can't thank you enough for the Rat Pack link! What a great way to start the day!!

And now...for something completely different...I really should learn to stop at three high balls...http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gAqyBXFGcUY

It may have been posted here before but here goes...http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vsEkR5WFlw0

Windmills seem so wonderful.  They are simple and in some places wind is pretty constant.  The down side, of course, is what it does to birds.  The large windmills tend to have a pile of dead birds at their base.  The birds can't figure out what a windmill is and fly right in ("through") them.  This has been our season of WEATHER and so forth.  We had a terrible wind strom on July third, Hurricane Irene, an earthquake and aftershocks, and now, the "remnants" of Tropical Storm Lee.  We have had at least a half a foot of rain here in Arlington, and parts of southern Fairfax County have had 12-15 inches of rain.  Trees have toppled from being washed out, and there are large chunks of road washed out here and there,  And there today will be another day of rain.  At times the rain is incredibly hard, as bad as a monsoon in Asia.  And here's a treat from YouTube of a man tubing down Rt. 29 in Fairfax:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GQsJWcQz4i8&feature=youtu.be

And here's one of flooding in Reston: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OwfjvYK-BGU

All great achievements begin with humans observing some aspect of nature and creatively utilizing that information for our use and pleasure. Wind is no exception.

On the subject of the power of wind... This little fella is heading off into the chilly
katabatic breezes of Tasmania's Central Highlands for a couple of weeks to
embrace the opportunity to utilise one of the side benefits of the other pure
form of energy - Hydro Power. With a fair wind behind me I'll be wading in the
pristine waters of Tasmania's Great Lake hunting trout.

So two weeks in the winds of the Tasmanian Central Highlands followed by 3 weeks on
the Island Of Sumba. (Come on now, tell me know where Sumba is - without going
to Google of course).

All in all I'll not be blowing any chill winds here for the next 5 or 6 weeks!
Adieu my new-found friends. :)

Ta ta, Toffee not Taffy~ Hope you have a great time - Sumba ... never heard of it.

The Danish Vestas we are able to see every (clear) day across the lake and even unclear days thirty-five miles south on the interstate are all perched atop the western Niagara Escarpment a prominent, rock ridge and suitable platform on which to build them with good exposure to the winds.
They are at two hundred and sixty odd feet in height, just immense. The turbine itself sitting atop the standard is larger than a school bus and the blades of which there are three, are one hundred forty-eight feet long.
A college friend related that they were the salvation of his parent's land: the town was fixing to tax their acreage at highest value which would be residential use and that would have meant that the tax bill would have risen exponentially and forced them to sell.
They agreed to two wind turbines which provide a significant yearly income and the presence of which have downgraded the value of the land for home building.
A win win depending on how you feel about living near those behemoths.

We've all heard of this guy and… that's about it for Tasmania.

http://youtu.be/-5zELTa9Ris

The wind turbines are one of the most attractive features of driving through Scranton, PA.  Others have mentioned the birds having trouble with the blades - I wonder what are the odds of bird-blade collisions?
 
As for wind, I will be channeling Isles this weekend - off to a regatta with my dad and brother.  It will be one of the only times we've ever raced on the same boat which will make for some rather interesting strategy 'discussions.'  We'll be dancing to Maalox, the Wind God, to provide....

And, of course, sacrificing a few six packs.

A wild ride through the links today...Kentucky, Lynn, and of course, the Alpha, Stoney....and in between trips to Sumba (haven't googled yet)with a drop off for cuppa with Hazel, its a good thing the topics is windmills because thats about where my brain is right now.

I lived in the Netherlands for a year and never tired of seeing and observing windmills. Everyday, many times a day my heart skipped a beat when coming upon one. Equally when driving to Colorado with my son the fields of wind turbines were spectacularly beautiful and made me believe in the future more than ever.

Admittedly Don Quixote is my mentor, but what better target than a windmill?

Only barely on topic, if you have not seen it, The Mighty Wind is a hilarious movie, good for a laugh.

This is a somber weekend and its hard not to feel guilty having fun and feeling the wind in my hair. Our family and the world lost someone very close to us on the 102nd floor of the north tower and it is really unbearable to watch it on tv, at the same time in the words of Arthur Miller "Attention must be paid." I suppose I am jumping the gun on the topic here, but its as if it were yesterday not 10 years ago so I thank you all for the diversions t his morning. Joshua Michael Piver, an almost perfect young man. As they all are....

Shandonista ~
Replace the belaying pins with long necks and you're good to go. Have fun.

And, with that in mind: ChefDeb ~
When a friend of ours died, Guest and I were instructed: "When you get done blubbering, go have chili dogs, pints of Spotted Cow and laugh about the time I couldn't find my glasses or hat."
He'd been wearing both and we did as instructed the point being that the best tribute to fallen friends and loved ones is to live on and laugh without guilt.

STONEY thank you and you are absolutely correct! And I was talking to my daughter on the phone the other day and while doing so I was looking everywhere for where I put my phone!

 Look in the fridge... there's a story there.

Safe journeys to the two travlers.  May the wind be behind your back.
 
I just added the picture of my daughter's playhouse-windmill that their papa built for them.  It was two floors with a nice staircase even I could go up ever so carefully.  Over the years it was a place of great enjoyment for the girls and their friends.  As I noted the blades did not move, a caution I demanded so no one would decide to go for a swing out one of the windows all of which opened.
 
The picture along with others of the girls inside was in a local paper around 1975.
 
 

May I be the Devil's advocate? All this talk of wind, and not one mention of Beano

Thanks to the privelege of going off subject, I humbly raise my hand to my hat to salute Marine Sergeant Dakota Meyer who will be awartded the Medal of Honor next week. His story is too long to tell here  but its worth finding and reading.
 
Semper Fi and! Anchors Aweigh to all who serve, have served and will serve in any capacity, with special thanks to those who keep the home fires burning.

Let's get our defintions right here, a windmill is a thing that mills. Flour and suchlike. A turbine is a wind-powered thing that makes electricity. As RY mentioned. certain foods can turn us into wind machines. There was a man who made a living in the old music halls of London by farting tunes as a stage act. Back the day when I baked my own bread, I would drive miles (it was a fun, bendy drive) to a lady who kept a windmill, to buy a sack of wholemeal flour. Great if the day was blowing and the mill was going, cracking and grinding newly harvested grains. Lovely aroma.

The girls did consider themselves very lucky, ChefDeb, but they loved to share the windmill with all their friends. 
 
Roadyatch, the "Dutch" came when they got old enough to sneak out to it late at night.  It was getting a bit delapidated by then. 
 
What was interesting, Carol, is it became a landmark in this little village for a while, and we have had people who moved away returning and asking where the windmill is.  Usually they are disappointed that it had to be torn down.  So it is sort of a memory for many.  We're really glad we have the newspaper article and some nice pictures.   

KC - your 5:22 am -- ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh - The King, be still my heart  All of the links, the Rat Pack, all of them, were wonderful - but Elvis....,mmmmmmmm.  Thank You!

Lotlot~ Re: yuor 1:07 AM post...did you respect it the next morning?

Had lunch today at Bien Trucha in Geneva, IL and must say it's one of the best Mexican Restaurants in the Country. Guac of the day outstanding.

I am Wishing Y'all a Safe and Enjoyable Weekend !!!
 
All the Best of Everything That is Good ... Friendship, Family, Food You Love, Good Wine, and Not a Dark Cloud in The Sky !!!   Be Well, and Forget about Work ... It Will Keep Till Monday ... All Happiness To Y'all !!!
 
To the Tribe:  A GOOD SHABBOS .......
 
Have a Good Rest, with Peace and Joy ... Pleasures To You Delight .......
 
"Taste and See How Good is The Lord ..."
 
May Our Rest Be Pleasing Unto Him Who Brought Us This Far .......
 
 
Blessings Upon You All .......
 
 
IVAN

Ivan, my friend~ I can't come up with anything better to say than the same back to you! Your blessing, as always, is appreciated and looked forward to.
 

Blessings back to you, Ivan. Goodness, is it Friday nite already again?
Been thinking about windmills. Co-incidence, there was a programme on TV today about windmills that have been converted to dwelling houses. How cool is that? Round rooms with a spiral staircase up the middle. I'm not a sailor, but I was told that you have to trim the sails of a windmill to the wind, just as you would a yacht. A building that wants to be a ship. Being inside a working windmill is an exciting experience. The structure is huge old timbers, interlocking cogs made from wood or metal, ropes and pulleys. The whole thing creaks and groans like an athritic old man and the mill stones grumble like an old lady on her soapbox about "young people today." It feels like a living, breathing creature. It's nearly the end of the holiday season here but the shops still have brightly coloured "windmills" to amuse kiddies. And little buckets and spades for making sancastles on the beach. I feel a bit sad when they are all put away for next year.

Duvet time here. Nos Da, dear people.

OH BEBE!  Parkerhouse roll?!!  You are so bebe, there is only one bebe, and no one is more bebe than you.  How you can come home from a day at school and come up with that I do not know.
 
It must be a bebe thing. ;)
 
I'm a day late and a dollar short with this but I'm never far away, just slow..

Thank you IVAN!  As always I hope the same for you and yours. pbb

PARK.......................I calls em' as I sees em' baby! How did you know I needed a PARK wink tonight?????????? I am smiling & it's not just the wine...................thank you...............................

IVAN...............thank you and I send them back your way!

After all is said and done and I've thought about it all day.......Lotlot's opening salvo says it all. 

Okay I tried not to do it, but my grandfather, Henry N. Boucher, used to say on a um, regular basis...Let your wind go free wherever you be, cause holding mine in is what killed me."

AMEN!!

ChefDeb--I'm really glad you didn't hold THAT in!!

Tommy T, are you in Geneva for Festival on the Vine. If so, check out the All Chocolate Kitchen were the Master Desert Chef owner, Alaine Roby, will be doing wine pairings. They make the best gellato i've ever enjoyed.

You can't produce cement or coral reefs with seawater and wind mills.

Just a short side track to wind turbines......

We have about thirty+ turbines south of town and i appreciate the idea of harnessing the power of the wind. They remind me of airplane propellers and when you see a row of them spanning the horizon, like giant guardians of the corn and bean fields..... They offer a graceful and almost delicate image of power...... Especially when compared to the giant electric power towers and the legacy of telephone polls that still dominate the skyline.