Wind blowing prayer flags, wind turbines, and dog hair. Filmed by me, sound from the camera microphone. The wind turbines are at the Wild Horse Alternative Energy Facility outside of Ellensburg, WA. They are (barely) visible on the hill below the prayer flags, but from the Kittitas Institute of Astrophysics, I can watch the flags blowing and the wind turbines spinning at the same time. When the sun is aligned correctly, I can see the bright reflections from the solar panels. Wind and solar should not be "alternative" energy; they are our energy. Noise made by wind turbines bothers some people, particularly the low frequencies. Here, the turbines are very far from houses, and the sound has an interesting rhythm to it. It is hard to record in the wind, and most of the sound is dominated by microphone noise. Listen for the ~1 hertz beat from the blades passing the supports. Any longer frequency noise has to be resonance in the supports. I couldn't hear it. Later in the summer, I saw similar windmills in suburbs of Boston. I don't know what it would be like to live with a giant wind generator next door, but I do want my electricity to come from wind and sun. The final clip is of the wind blowing Talus on the west ridge hike at the north end of the Yakima River Canyon. It was a steep and windy walk up the ridge with incredible views. Talus came to us from Northern California Border Collie Rescue. Rescue a good dog, and take him on a windy hike! Dogs are a great excuse to be outdoors.
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