Meet our new neighbor out here JOTOLR. Rather striking, isn't it? And speaking of striking, I am wondering what the lightning will look like when it chooses to hit this 300+ foot tower now embedded in the top of the mountain. I don't have a cell phone, but I suppose it's only fitting that having had an uncluttered, basic nature horizon for the past 30-some years, I should have to relinquish it to "necessary" technological impact. (Can't help remembering that "silent treatment" commercial we've had to endure these past few weekends watching March Madness and questioning real need here...Then again, I also recall when I was out selling Pampered Chef kitchen tools at night and --coming home being unable to contact anyone due to spotty connectivity.
Nonetheless, I mourn the loss of uncluttered sky.
Installation of this monstrosity has certainly brought the industrial complex closer. I'll admit it's been quite a feast for the eyes in one way: watching the construction workers climb to the top and working their way down, inch by inch.
But the noise-level out here has increased significantly. For the past several weeks, we've "enjoyed" the constant beeping of backing equipment, the grinding of bulldozers and the slow emerging of this iron fretwork structure. The earth has been scraped and scoured, big boulders rolled out of the way of the roadbuilders; trucks by the score have hauled limestone rock up the mountain, and two buildings now sit at the base of the tower.
I'm not sure which has made the greatest impact: the erection of the tower or the clear-cutting of the forest for miles around, that made this construction possible. In reading about "compensation" for the footprint of cell phone towers, the owner will --they say--receive something in the neighborhood of $1,000 per month. But since he doesn't live here, preferring the bright lights of the city to the one-lane road, it would seem only fair --at the very least--that those of us who do live here, should be compensated for the loss of our pristine night sky.
I guess once you get used to having red lights blinking across the road all night long (preventing air traffic from crashing into it, we hope) it could seem remotely like the lighthouses MM and I used to navigate by, when we lived aboard our sailboat. But somehow a cell phone tower lacks the ambience and goodwill of a lighthouse. It's not at all the same quality of friendliness that a lighthouse is.
But....I suppose things could be a lot worse.
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Oh dear...I'm so sorry, Elora. I know it must be difficult to go from a view of trees and sky to that. But, as you say, it could be worse. After it's finished and all the builders are gone, you'll probably at least have quiet. And I love your idea of imagining it as a lighthouse. I think that's a wonderful way of looking at it. Sometimes, when it's foggy here, the mountaintops rising up through the sea of fog look like islands.
ReplyDeleteHey, Beth!!! Great to hear from you! So glad you're still blogging! I've missed your oh-so-sensitive and loving posts! Wonderful to get a comment from you! How's your family? Knowing you're just over the mountain always gives me a good feeling! Thanks so much!
ReplyDeleteElora
You've touched on one of the biggest sources of ambivalence in my life, Elora. Yes, I have a cell phone, and I have come to depend upon it. But I hate to see the towers intruding into otherwise natural landscapes. I have come to take electricity for granted, but I am sickened by mountaintop removal and contour strip mining. Yet, I regret that anyone has to make their living more than 3 miles down in the earth, crawling through a cut passageway that may be only 30 inches high. I like the freedom to travel long distances, but hate what the interstate highways have done to Appalachia and the rest of the country. I enjoy radio and television (well, some television, maybe just a little television. OK, I hate television.), but regret the loss of regional accents and dialects. I fear our current rate of world population growth, but I want my children and grandchildren to survive and be healthy. Pogo Possum summed it up eloquently in the cartoon drawn for the first Earth Day in 1970, "We have met the enemy, and he is us!" Jim
ReplyDeleteYou've touched on one of the biggest sources of ambivalence in my life, Elora. Yes, I have a cell phone, and I have come to depend upon it. But I hate to see the towers intruding into otherwise natural landscapes. I have come to take electricity for granted, but I am sickened by mountaintop removal and contour strip mining. Yet, I regret that anyone has to make their living more than 3 miles down in the earth, crawling through a cut passageway that may be only 30 inches high. I like the freedom to travel long distances, but hate what the interstate highways have done to Appalachia and the rest of the country. I enjoy radio and television (well, some television, maybe just a little television. OK, I hate television.), but regret the loss of regional accents and dialects. I fear our current rate of world population growth, but I want my children and grandchildren to survive and be healthy. Pogo Possum summed it up eloquently in the cartoon drawn for the first Earth Day in 1970, "We have met the enemy, and he is us!" Jim
ReplyDeleteHi Elora and MM:
ReplyDeleteYes, I have a great view of the tower too, just on the other side of the mountain. I also posted about it on my blog and agree with you 100%. I don't have a cell phone either and will never have one. I would get rid of the landline phone if it wasn't for family living far away. Anyway, good to see you back online. I also agree with you about blogging more about rural life than politics; however, I am so upset sometimes that I have to rant about it. It does make me feel better and I hope it opens someone else's eyes to what is going on. Take care and looking forward to reading more about what you're doing.
Oh! Me, too, Jim!!! We're all hypocrits! Right??!! NIMBY wasn't coined out of thin air, by any stretch! I remember my dark and stormy nights, driving home from having done a kitchen show. A 50-mile drive or more wasn't uncommon. That little glowing light in my hand was the only comfort and when the No-Signal, No-signal banner came up, I felt very alone......!!! And yes, I hate television, too...and yet? Is my computer simply another "television?" Hardly any different other than I see able to justify my connectivity as being "more intellectually upright" than TV! Aaaahhhh...aren't I the superior one! :-)) Thanks so much for your generous comment
ReplyDeleteThomas! How lovely to hear from you. I know you're just over the mountain and that we share the same view!! And I've been enjoying your accounts of greenhouses and an exciting new beginning for you! I am watching your success as you cut the traces from your former occupation and launch into the joys (or not!) of self-sufficiency and sustainability that you've been preparing for these recent years. I know you're ready--even though the starting gate asks "Ready or not?" Congratulations on accepting the challenge and being a force for good (as in you're a "good" example of where we should all be!) Godspeed on this new journey!
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for stopping by!
Elora
Our wonderful Devon landscape has been blighted by over 20 massive (230ft) windturbines. Not only do they spoil what has been classed as one of the last rural idylls but anyone living near them is subjected to constant high and low frequency noise. I was really glad to hear today that a local farmer has been refused planning permission to put up a similar sized one just over a mile away.
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