A Windmill for Bradford, NH

previously, i have used this blog-space for random thoughts (with touches of facetiousness...uhm, maybe some sarcacism), but this one is in a more "serious" vein since it's about Bradford's very first wind turbine (and, in the words of the prophet, may there be many more).

i should note that if i were to name where we live i would call it "Windy Acres", and i am no particular fan of wind (even though it tends to keep the bugs away). i have always considered wind as the "criminal element" of the natural world (think hurricanes, tornados), and if i were spiritual i would consider it a force from the "other side". from a more earth-bound sense it is harsh on my plants, keeps the temperature (especially in the springtime) lower than other local temps and frustrates working outside with materials lighter than cast iron. (hyperbole you say? try putting down black plastic, poly. row covers here. leads to mucho foul language).

ok, on to windmills.

after a "slight amount" of fuss/time trying to determine which town board might be responsible for permitting windmills i was ably assisted by Trudy Willette (code officer assistant...who actually does all the work) and Chip Meany then moved my request through the Select Board

and, ...away we go (no negative comments/protestors from abutters).

the unit is a Skystream 3.7 on a 45' pole which is rated to produce 2.4kw when the wind 8mph or more. it has three 6' fiberglass composite blades and rotates clockwise looking upwind. the company installing is Atlantic Air Power, Lebanon NH which, i found, offers the best value for this type of installation. Jim Rock, the owner, is a very easy guy to work with and has good experience with various wind turbine installations in NH and Vt

here's how it works....... the "bird" converts the power generated by the blades to AC power which feeds directly (via conduit-encased wire in a 2' deep trench that goes through a "kill switch"....for the fire people...) into the main breaker in the house. if that power is enough to satisfy the electrical needs of the house at that time then the power goes back out of the breaker into a "net meter" (supplied by PSNH) and PSNH gives credit for the power generated. Once more electrical need is warranted then that is captured from the grid (PSNH).

in order to stabilize the pole we needed to dig an 8' x 8' x 4' deep "hole" which is to be filled with concrete which will hold the steel rods/bolts that the pole is attached to. and, we need that 2' deep trench from the turbine site back to the house. the first consideration....what to do with all the dirt/sand from the hole, and there is lots and lots of it! ditto the trench, but that is back-filled so it doesn't represent a disposal problem. we are fortunate to have both enough place to get rid of the sand and to have very sandy soil to make digging easier (although the sandy soil is no great shakes when it comes to growing fruit trees. doesn't hold moistute worth a damn).

so...there's the dig (with a bit of trench showing) and the conduit affixed in approximately the center of the dig.

the next step in the process is making up the apparatus that will hold the tower in place....steel rods, bolts, rebar, concrete, etc. and that was ably handled by Jim Rock and his helper Will.

once the bolts, etc. are in place, all leveled, etc. the concrete is poured to within 6" (or so) of ground level....this way you have very little of the base showing once the project is complete.

above picture has Jim lubricating the bolts (on a day full of showers) after the concrete has been poured. now we wait for the concrete to cure, Atlantic sends in the order for the tower and, hopefully, by mid-july we're up and running.

a certain "femme fatale" who examines her head in minute detail on occasion has recently updated her blog with some thoughts on wasting time/idleness and, underlying, her "guilt" in not being a more productive entity when playing solitaire. ah, the irony of it all.
does she realize, in her ruminations, that she has joined with some most respected minds that have relected on this same subject?
as far back as the old testament as in ecclesiaste (10:18).... "by slouthness the roof sinketh in, and through idleness of the hands the house leaketh", or from a christian perspective John Bunyan's admonition..."an idle's man's brain is the devil's workshop".
in a secular vein voltaire stated: "Shun idleness. It is the rust that attaches itself to the most brilliant metals". benjamin franklin offered "idleness and pride tax with a heavier hand than kings..." and john quincy adams felt he had pinned the tail on the donkey with "idlenes is sweet and its consequences are cruel".
samuel johnson in his essay "The Idler" asks "who can be more idle than the reader of the idler" to which i might add...who can be more idle than the writer of being idle?
didn't bunyan have souls to save? why was he wasting time coming up with nifty quotes? voltaire could have been writing another "Candide" to make some money, and if jqa hadn't been wasting his time doodling perhaps he could have worked on the slavery situation.
so...and i plead guilty to responding to this crafty woman's blog... is not blogging about idleness the equivalent of playing solitaire? should she not be engaged in purposeful business, or at least, as mother ann would say..."hands to work, hearts to god" (although one could support the argument that praying is idle behavior).
however, having said the preceding, my own thoughts on the subject would run contrary to the good mr. buyan (of "Pilgrim's Progress" fame) and the ethic of "work is it's own reward", because i can say, without the femme's guilt, that idleness has its own rewards...reflection, imagination, occasional profound thoughts and is good for the tired, aching body (caused by non-idleness). as virginia woolf so eloquently put it: "yet it is in our idleness, in our dreams, that the submerged truth sometimes comes to the top"
so idle away ms. smc....it is relaxation for the brain!

i'm not quite sure what geographic region t.s. elliot was thinking about when he penned the wasteland, but march actually is "the cruelest month" and has been for many years. in a lot of ways march and november are pretty much arkansas kissin' cousins....windy, snow (off and on) cooler to cold, can't grow anything....and you think you should be able to.... and so on.
so....here i sit f*&kin' around on a computer when i should be digging in the soil, cleaning stuff up or doing anything outside. we are truly a 3-season state....july, august and winter!

just in case you're interested (with easter coming up pretty soon)..... a while back pope benedict xvi declared that Hell is not a metaphor, but a real place where the damned (and only those "saved" get to heaven, so the damned includes jews, muslims, hindus, etc.) actually burn in everlasting fire. "It really exists and is eternal" said the pope, "even if nobody talks about it anymore".
but, recently the vatican announced men who go to Hell will have their souls pelted with fire and brimstone, but women will be punished by having their souls "broken on a wheel".
rather confusing i think ....how many times can a woman's soul be broken....given this is for eternity. and....who gets to break them? contract labor? angels with fireproof wings?
and, which is the better deal fire/brimstone or breaking? i'd suggest there is some discrimination here....no specifics for gays, transgenders...and how about little 5 year old girls who died and had lied to mommy? the wheel? or eternal spanking?
i think jesus (or maybe his brother barack) should look into this very carefully. or, at the least, update the pope. breaking on a wheel?? hasn't this guy heard about waterboarding and electric shock!?