I chuckled when I read Val's current post about the traditional windmills of Holland, as I had just saved these photos for an upcoming post of my own!
These windmills are located in southern Alberta, where the wind blows and blows...and blows...
A couple of weeks ago, as I was driving through the area, I found myself smitten by these curious structures dancing and spinning their ballet against the skyline.
I was so impressed - and curious - that I approached a lone dancer in order to photograph it.
The shed at the foot of this wind-catcher gives some perspective as to the immense size of these ingenious power-generators.
Windmills - Canadian style?
Dale, I know I'm in a minority here, but I think these are rather beautiful - very sculptural and quite surreal.
ReplyDeleteThere's a lot of opposition to "wind farms" here at the moment on aesthetic grounds, and of course sensitivity to the landscape is very important, but in the right place, I love them. As a testament to the will to create a clean, sustainable energy source, they are OK by me, and certainly beat the nuclear power installations our beloved prime minister is currently lobbying for boo hiss. (Sound of strangled cries and splintering wood as soapbox collapses thus saving you from further rantings of mad Antipodean woman).
Margie - I believe these are beautiful, too!
ReplyDeleteIn what capacity are you a minority?
Australian, perchance?
I agree about the aesthetic beauty - these generators are 4 hours from my home and I don't have to look at them every day.
BUT...I'd rather watch a statuesque ballet - day in and day out - than find my way through the shadows of a nuclear energy plant by the green glow of the nearest creek...
Harvest the wind, I say!
I'll help you build another soapbox, Margie.
One big enough for all of us!!!
ReplyDeleteHi Dale,
ReplyDeleteToronto has just such a windmill by the waterfront. I think they are beautiful too. I also remember seeing loads of them all in a row when I drove down from SF to LA a few summers ago.
Dale:
ReplyDeleteYou ought to see the pass around the Palm Springs area! Did you know the mountains on either side are: 10,800 ft. and 11,500 ft???
...makes for a lot of wind! Google that one...near Banning, Palm Springs, and Cabazon, California.
--Dan L.
Whoa! In the first photo they looked so small! Dang, then the 2nd photo made it look so enormous! Hot dog!
ReplyDeleteWhen I first looked at the photos though it reminded me of TellyTubbies. Did you ever see TellyTubbies? That's a weird British pre-school show that my children watched breifly as tikes. Weird I tells ya, WEIRD!
I drive right by that one in Toronto everyday on the way to work. (Luckily it moves enough so ice doesn't form on it to fall on the expressway!).
ReplyDeleteMy first vision of these windmills was in Denmark where almost their entire electrical source comes from them. They dotted the pretty landscape, which is very flat and has almost no rivers.
Ah..yes...
ReplyDeletethe circles that you find..
in the windmills of your mind..
Dale! I've only just had a moment to have a look around my favourite blogs, and I had such a big smile when I saw yours. I too like these wind farms and there are several here on the coast as well.
ReplyDeleteI like the way you call it a statuesque ballet too. I would infinitely prefer to look at these than at a huge oil refinery or power station. The only drawback I can find is the noise, as they are a bit loud!
And Margie, I'm so with you on the nuclear issue. I'll even make you a new soapbox! LOL
Aha, I've just seen you are also going to help Margie build a new sopabox, Dale! LOL..we'll be able to build one in every country at this rate!
ReplyDeleteI used to pass a huge oil refinery on the way through Antwerp when I went to Brussels every weekend. It covers thousands of acres of land and belches flames and smoke into the sky with evil virulence. How anyone could prefer to have this than a field of windmills which OK are not all that aesthetically appealing in huge quantities, but at least they don't EMIT!!
we have windmills like that here..they are quite surreal..i like the older ones though..
ReplyDeleteDale,
ReplyDeleteWe've got the exact same windmills lining our mountains here. I love them!!!!
~Lace~
Anne-Marie - do you know what the power from the windmill on the waterfront is used for?
ReplyDeleteDan - we use the same ventura effect from the wind funneling off the Rocky Mountains to fan these generators. Our mountains are about 8,000 to 12,000 feet.
PTfan - LOL Yes, I've seen Teletubbies and it must be the rolling, treeless hills.
Lannio - so Denmark uses wind power instead of hydro electricity?
Gypsy - I get vertigo just thinking about my mind's whirl...
The old stone windmills are much prettier.
Val - your smile must have been the same as mine when I read your blog!
Yes...I have issues with the nuclear issue...
As far as noise is concerned, these generators are in fairly remote areas, so no one is about to hear them...well, maybe the gophers and hawks.
We have a huge STINKY steam-belching pulp mill near here - my nephew calls them "cloud-making factories".
Lace - yes, there is a certain beauty...
Reminds me of windmill valley in California. Near Altamont, the famed Stones concert.
ReplyDeleteOooh, so I'm not in a minority after all? That's nice. (OK Dale, except for being Australian - haha!)
ReplyDeleteThanks for the offers to rebuild the soapbox - I expect with Val's fine woodwork finishing skills, it'll be a beauty! But yes, it sounds like it'll have to be a big one.
ptfan - I've seen the Teletubbies too. What were the producers ON? Weird is right - but then I loved Andy Pandy and the Flowerpot Men as a child, so I don't exactly have the moral high ground on this one.
I know they have those near Toronto and we saw them in Cape Bretong too this summer. I have never seen a whole line of them like that, though! Neat!
ReplyDeleteGrace - I've seen photos of the ones in California.
ReplyDeleteMargie - I've got the tools!
...my favourite kid's show was The Friendly Giant...
Mary Beth - by the sounds of it, there's many of these wind harvesters all over the world.
There were more than one single row of them where I was - rows and rows and rows!
If only we could use the power of nature all the time - hydro and wind...
sometimes being a minority is not a bad thing
ReplyDeleteyour a bird on the brim...
ReplyDeletehypnotized by the whirl..
Like a tunnel that you follow
ReplyDeleteTo a tunnel of its own...
Margie, you will have a huge and strong soapbox as I am on board as well...
Dale, I think they are lovely too, and would much rather see them than smell the Skookumchuk mill when I drive to Cranny... but I am onside with Gysp about the older ones...
Gyspy, I am on your side with the older ones being more beautiful. Likely not as efficient or as strong, but much more romantic.
Val, smiles all round, and no to nuclear energy!
Hell no, we won't glow!!