It was 59 degrees when we rolled into town last night. That is 50 degrees cooler than the 110 heat index that was supposed to be happening in St. Louis. (When we were packing the car yesterday morning, you could barely breath due to the humidity. I’ve compared it to walking in warm Jell-O before, and that still fits. I suppose the St. Louis Department of Tourism would like me to stop discussing this right now.) Today in the mountains – gorgeous. Cool. Invigorating.
Thanks for your comments on the Wind Turbines in Kansas. (By the way, I love everyone from Kansas. The creepiness has nothing to do with you.) When there were just a couple of them, it was kind of fascinating. But now that the hills are full of them in this particular area, it feels creepy to me. Just.too.tall.and.silent. It does sound like they’re all over the place now, according to your posts, so that’s interesting. Like a couple of people mentioned in the comments, I would love to know if you see a savings on your energy bills when you live near them.
Here’s my schedule for vacation. What do you think?
1. Sleep a little later than normal.
2. Walk over to get coffee at Starbucks.
3. Sit and drink coffee and look at the mountain views.
4. Figure out a plan for the day. (Sometimes “BE”, sometims “DO”. Somtimes a little of both.)
5. Make a great dinner.
6. Watch movies and knit (or play on the computer, depending on which member of the family you’re talking to). Or read a good book.
7. Answer a few emails and write a quick blog, so that it still feels like I’m doing a little something productive.
8. Hope that nobody notices if I add another week or two to the end of this vacation time.
We used the Random Number Generator to pick two winners from last week’s Blog Contest. The winners (who will be receiving Wollmeise in the mail) are: Grace in NJ and Erin in OH. Congratulations to both of you, and thanks to everyone who posted the foods that they’d like to see knit up!
I’m off to “Be” for the day. I started a new sock in the car and just turned the heel. It’s a new indie yarn going up next week that you will love. I’ll photo it for the blog as soon as it’s done. More tomorrow!
Sheri forgottotellyouthatIorderedabunchofyarnbeforeIleft.ABUNCH.
Hopefullytherewillbelotsofboxestocomehometo.
I don’t know that anyone living nearby a wind turbine sees the actual savings. I think that the turbine company sells the power to electric companies. I DO know that the ground where they are located is leased from the landowners at a pretty good rate. High than what the owner could make by farming it.
I saw similar wind turbines in Holland when we visited. I personally love the. I think they are elegant and graceful!
Sounds like a lovely vacation.
I’m not sure the power is any cheaper. Of course, this is California, and anything “cheaper” immediately gets taxed into the stratosphere. It is clean, though. Fairly quiet. It’s a major disturbance to the delicate desert ecology, though. People like to see the land below the turbines as “undisturbed” but the native critters don’t see it that way. Personally, I’d like to see solar panels on the roof of every building that gets built or re-sold. Yeah, I guess that’s another sort of tax, but in the long run, power bills would drop significantly so would the human footprint involved. And yep, they work everywhere. Like hybrid cars, they reduce, but don’t eliminate, the need for more traditional power resources.
Back to knitting.
I’ve never been up close to a wind turbine. One of the ski resorts in western MA installed one. They are hoping that the savings will pay for snow-making equipment during ski season. i don’t go skiing so I don’t expect near it.
Most of all, “be” happy.
As one who is stuck here in the St. Louis area – I am so jealous!! It sounds like a wonderful vacation and I wouldn’t blame you if you tacked on a week or six!
Have fun!!!
Glad y’all are here!!!
Hee-hee 🙂 I know you love us here in Kansas 🙂
LOVE that view….mapquest says it’s 23 hrs 1 min to Dillon CO…..I’m on my way… *grins* Enjoy!!!
A BUNCH! I love those words…
This has nothing to do with chilling in Colorado, but what ever happened to Ava?
So glad you are having a good time, I can’t think of anyone who deserves it more. Colorado sounds like a dream. Anything to escape the heat is good. Hugs
I’m pea green you are in the cool of the mountains. It’s 97 here in Norman but feels more like 117. Ugh! October can’t get here soon enough. 🙂
enjoy! congrats winners!
Your daily plan sounds perfect to me. Hope you’re enjoying it, along with the cooler weather. We’ve just gotten our first few days of summer weather and no one is tired of it here yet. But then it’s not over 100 degrees here!
Nope, no savings from wind turbines because wind energy costs more than coal energy right now. The technology hasn’t been refined to the point of making it the other way around yet.
Part of the problem is the down time–wind turbines only work when the wind is at optimal speed. Too fast or too slow, and the turbines shut down. Unfortunately, there isn’t a good correlation between when power is needed the most (peak demand fluctuates in a predictable pattern every day), and when the wind blows at optimal speeds.
Mandates for renewable energy (20% in 2020 in CO) will help shift the technology over. But, it will be a few years yet. Can you tell I write a newsletter for an electric cooperative? LOL
I really hope you enjoy your time in CO. It’s where I live but I’m away on vacation for a few months and I am really enjoying some cool winter and rainy weather.
It sounds absolutely perfect. Have a wonderful time — you most definitely deserve it 🙂
sounds like a great way to spend a vacation! Enjoy!
I’d skip number five and replace it with “go OUT for a great dinner”!
Congratulations to this month’s contest winners! And hope you have a fabulous vacation. The temperature change alone sounds great!
I agree with Carol–go out for dinner, then make desserts! :0)
I live in Boulder, CO and the energy company out here (Xcel) allows you to purchase wind energy for part or all of your energy bill. I purchase entirely wind energy, and that is actually more expensive than coal at the moment. My energy bill is still fairly low (~$40/month) so I can luckily afford to pay the higher cost. I am an atmospheric chemistry graduate student, so for me the knowledge that I’m not using coal is worth the extra cost.
I agree with yesterday’s poster that wind energy is not going to solve our country’s energy problem. However, I don’t believe that there is going to be one panacea for this issue (the closest might be solar since technology is getting cheaper and there is a lot of research being done on storing solar energy). The best solution in my opinion is to use whatever technology makes sense in your area–in Kansas, that is wind energy; in other places it could be solar or geothermal or methane from compost and manure broken down by microbes. I do know that one of the goals for a sustainable alternative energy is that the price is no higher than current coal/carbon-based fuel, so I am hoping that alternative energy prices come down in the next few years.
I hope you have a great time in the mountains!
I find fields of wind turbines to be graceful and beautiful, and I marvel that the power generated from simple, invisible wind is so clean. It’s almost like Mother Nature helping out. And Kansas is a great place for fields of them because it’s so dang windy there all the time. I should know. I’m a transplanted Kansan living in St. Louis (where yes, I’m walking around in warm Jell-O). But to me, the turbines look like a ballet, synchronized dancing of the wind and the blades and I could stare for hours.
I’m jealous of your temperatures. Have fun! I love Colorado!
I am just green….GREEN, I tell you….with envy…that you are in Colorado. 😉
Maybe next year’s vacation……………….
Your vacation sounds perfect to me. A little more sleep, some relaxing activity, coffee….
I want to add solar panels to our house, but we just moved in. We’re thinking it will be next year’s (or the year after) project. It’s an older building, but even if we just pay for the refrigerator and freezer to be plugged in (and still pay for the lights, computer, etc.) that would be really cool.
I am so jealous – it’s been in the mid to upper 90’s here in SE Wisconsin this week, with high humidity and I just don’t do this hot summer weather very well anymore. Of course, as one of our local weathermen pointed out, at least in Wisconsin, we have a chance for change – it doesn’t stay this way all summer as it does in the South. I would love to be somewhere where it was 59 degrees and just BE – my husband is more of a “DO-er” when we vacation – he gets bored just BE-ing and thinks it’s a waste of money – we can stay home and BE (which we often do in this kind of weather – of course, after the animals are taken care of)
I would love a 59 degree day! The humidity is just horrible…I’m not sure who was dripping more, me or my soaker hose:-)
Take more time for you!!! And enjoy your BE and DO days!
OH my goodness I would really like some cooler weather, we have the same hot, humid warm jello air here… yuck!!!!!
I want to go to Colorado, I have not been there since I lived there as a child. … I miss it and the low humidity
Have a great time
The hot you had in STL will be in NC for the weekend. Have a great vacation. I love the mountains and am fortunate to live in a state that has both mountains and beaches (I rarely beach ’cause I don’t like sand and hot sun).
St. Louis Dept. of Tourism — not an oxymoron?
Glad you are loving the mountains, the doing, the being and the whole vacation thing. Loopy deserves this break.
Stay safe.