The recent and frightening false alarm that was sent out at the Seabrook Power Station this past week brought to my mind an event we experienced while living in Germany during the Chernobyl Power Plant emergency, which was unfortunately not a false alarm. Immediately after Chernobyl blew, we were warned not to allow the children to play outside and to be cautious for fear of radiation.
Chernobyl happened right before we were heading to Denmark for a school vacation week on the coast. Most fortunately, with the prevailing winds blowing in the opposite direction, the children could enjoy playing in the sandy yard of the wonderfully thatched-roof cottage we had rented. We were all able to walk on the beach and enjoy the sand, even if the water of the North Sea was far too cold to “enjoy” a true swim in May!
One day, the children and I were shopping in the little downtown area and some folks were telling us about the local windmill farm. So, we climbed in the old Opel and headed out in search. I was in absolute awe of seeing a windmill farm. It was so elegant, especially at a time when we were concerned with being poisoned by the fallout of more sophisticated technology. It presented to me an elegant and graceful means of producing electricity more naturally. The winds coming off the North Sea are strong and constant and the folks there are wise to take advantage of this amazing source of power. (Who has not seen those wonderful pictures of flowers blooming and the beautiful old wooden windmills nearby? It’s no surprise to me that they embraced the new windmill technology.) Ever since then, whenever I see a windmill, I am immediately taken back to those days and the majesty of seeing the Danish windmills.
I was visiting family in Massachusetts this week and rode by the Antrim Wind Farm and again, was so struck by their grace. I realize that some people feel that they are a blight on the horizon and ugly to see. But how can we in this day and age also not see how ugly the power lines are that go up and down every single street and lane? How can we celebrate a cell phone tower going up because we will get better service on our phones but criticize a windmill because it’s ugly or detracts from the beauty of our state? I guess if we’re all going to charge our cell phones, play the DVD players, check the emails and social media on our laptops and enjoy the latest games online, then perhaps we need to be more open-minded and learn to appreciate the grace of a glorious windmill.
While I realize that no power source is perfect, windmills seem to have a lot in their favor, perhaps especially to the folks at the beach this week when Seabrook issued their false alert and then didn’t immediately let everyone know it was in error.
Just my two cents worth and perhaps a little different perspective....
CORRECTION: The youth drop-in center referenced yesterday is located in Claremont. Laconia is hoping to model a new project after that existing program.
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