"They're Heeere"

As a child, few words probably instilled more fear in me than those in the title of this post. Poltergeist was the pinnacle of frightening, the horror of horror, the worst possible thing that could happen to you. I remember barely being able to keep my eyes open through the movie, and what child didn't come away from it scarred for life when it came to clown dolls? I can safely say I would still never put one in MY house and I'm now an adult of 30. This past summer I had the opportunity to watch Poltergeist again for the first time in at least twenty years. As with most things from childhood it now seemed hokey and I couldn't believe I'd ever been so afraid of such a movie. Granted, the people in the movie were strange and kind of creepy as actors go, but all in all the movie entertained me in the sense of "gosh, how I was ever afraid of this?"

As an "adult," the above experience is far too common for me. Things I held in high esteem as a kid or thought were incredibly wonderful and exotic are now commonplace and dull. There have been many times when I've wished I could recapture that youthful awe and fascination with the world that so consumed me when I was younger. This desire is probably why I love wind farms. It's true, I have a completely irrational love of the things. I squeal with delight and slow the car down and contemplate the best way to get as close as possible to them.

To me, they're majestic and peaceful. These large, graceful structures are proof of mankind's ability to make wise decisions about the way we use the Earth's resources. Not only that, but they're large and dot the landscape in an eerie, almost science-fiction manner. It's reminiscent of the future world I envisioned when I thought about the future as a small child. When I see them, I get that old feeling again, the wonder and the amazement and if I let myself I can even feel a bit of fear wondering what would happen if you were near them during a tornado... and let's face it, we all enjoy a bit of movie-theater fear once in a while.

So this past weekend, I again squealed with delight as I passed the new windfarm in JoDaviess county which is fast becoming my favorite wind farm due to their incredibly close proximity with Stage Coach Trail. No need to go out of my way to see these up close! There is a sense of pride too, knowing the area in which I grew up, houses these structures I hold in such high esteem. My only fear is that some local will fill me in on the politics behind them, as I'm not stupid enough to think they put them in there without some of the locals raising a stink and I definitely don't want politics to ruin one of the few things in the world that enable to recapture my childhood wonder.