Traveling...

On our way north and west, we wove our way back and forth between Iowa and Nebraska, and then into South Dakota.  There is a reason these states are among those in the Midwest referred to as the “breadbasket of the U.S.”  there is a lot of farming going on.

The beautiful green fields stretch as far as the eye can see on both sides of the highway. ` The crops we saw were primarily corn and soybeans, and hay being baled as winter feed for livestock. 

Sadly, interspersed among the shiny silos were many large old barns no longer in use.  In many cases, the doors appeared to be too small to accommodate the modern tractors and other machinery being used to plant and harvest the crops.   

They have a dignity all their own, though, and I will be sad when they are no longer standing.

There is another “crop” being harvested in the Midwest.  We passed many, many wind farms along the way.  The turbines tower above the corn and bean fields, blades turning slowly…or not…as the wind varies.  

We saw several near the highway that showed signs of leaking oil.  

That prompted me to pull out my cell phone and do a little investigating into the requirements of these behemoths.  The information I found says each wind turbine requires 80 gallons of PAO synthetic lubricant, which is made from crude oil.  This oil must be replaced once a year, so one hopes they don’t leak very much.  Maintenance costs per turbine were estimated at $42,000-$48,000 per year, but then, they don’t require water or sunshine to produce their “crop.”  For my money, I would rather see fields of green than a landscape filled with these “windmills.”