Thursday, May 3, 2012
In Search of Cranes and Sunshine
Becca of Patina Moon has some lovely photos of the greenery of Washington state that's quite in keeping with its nickname as the Evergreen State. Our state has another side, however, one that we recently explored. In the spring sandhill cranes stop in Eastern Washington enroute to their summer breeding grounds much further north. One recent sunny day, we headed over Snoqualmie Pass to see if we could find some of these big birds. This is what we found instead, something even larger!
Lots and lots of wind turbines. Did you know those blades are 121 feet long and weigh just under 6 TONS? And this particular windfarm consists of 149 turbines, working hard to create energy.
Perhaps you can enlarge this photo and read all about it yourself? Many people think that the weather in Washington state is mostly rainy; and yes, here in Western Washington we do have our share of cloudy days and sometimes lots of rain (7" in March here in Seattle!), but in the eastern part of the state where the apples, cherries and wheat grow, the farmers actually have to irrigate their fields, and the landscape looks like this.
No matter where you are though, east or west, if you know where to look and the sun is out, you can see "The Mountain" (Mount Rainier~can you see it?) or these mountains too.
When we weren't busy chasing the sunshine, I've been working in the yard, knitting, and stitching on a new Sunbonnet Sue, my TAST project for May and of course, playing with Max.
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7 comments:
You want sandhills????? Come on down. We have them EVERYWHERE!!!!!
Our little sandhill family had two babies this year. The babies aren't that small anymore, but they are still tan colored. Pretty soon they'll get all gawky (like preteens) and then they'll turn grey.
I've wondered how migrating birds fare against those huge wind turbines. Do you know how many of them are killed by those huge blades. (I don't. I'm just wondering.)
The mountain photos are beautiful and so interesting about the varied landscape and rainfall amounts. It's an amazing country,isn't it!
Wow! That is pretty amazing that is just around the corner from all that green! Guess that's where I'll have to go if I ever tire of the green and clouds!
Oo I want to start my SBS but my packing is getting more intense! We leave LV on May 19th!
Those windmills are GIANT. They have covered so much of the landscape of West Texas... doesn't look anything like it used to with all those things whirling around and at night it looks like red lights of Christmas!! It is amazing how the terrain can change in our states, isn't it? Love your views! blessings ~ Tanna
Wow those are big old windmills. Great technology I think. I recall my nephew did a windmill report about 20 years ago for school and we though it so innovative.
LOVE your sunbonnet little one!!! Soooo cute Judy!~
Wow those are big old windmills. Great technology I think. I recall my nephew did a windmill report about 20 years ago for school and we though it so innovative.
LOVE your sunbonnet little one!!! Soooo cute Judy!~
A few years back, when we were on a two-lane back road in some midwestern state, we passed trucks carrying the blades of these things. I was AMAZED at how big they are!
Your blog link wouldn't work for me from Tuesday Stitchers.
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