It's been too long since we've updated, and someone in the family is getting twitchy because of it...you can be sure that NorthernToddler and NorthernDaddy aren't the ones - we're too busy arguing over who gets the Goldfish crackers. (As a side note, I would like to point out that my mother never gave me Goldfish crackers as a childhood snack - I was THIRTY-THREE years old before I had my first Goldfish cracker. Can you believe that?! Now, I snarf them all the time, which is why Levi and I fight over who gets to hand out the snacks: he thinks that I short-change him in the snack department. I am of the opinion that I'm way bigger than him, so I should get a way bigger serving of Scooby Snacks.)
Okay, back to the update: for those of you that have driven the Interstate into the Burlington area, you know about the Whales' Tails. For those who don't know, if you're traveling north on I-89 near Williston, there suddenly appear two large whale tails. Just sticking outta the dirt on the side of the road. (Some crazy Northerner stuck 'em there....or some stoners....or maybe they're fossils!) We've passed them many times over the past few years - we finally made our way to the park that surrounds the area to get a whale close-up. (The real story on the tails and why they are on the side of the road? They were originally created out of black marble or granite or something to be placed in front of a hotel/conference center in Randolph, VT. The project fell through, and due to some cosmic weirdness, the tails ended up on the side of I-89. [There did used to be whales in Champlain, and whale fossils were discovered in Charlotte, so I guess there's a connection to whales swimming in dirt...]) We finally made the trip to see them real close, and they are impressive. Below, NorthernToddler poses to provide scale.
The real reason that we stopped to see the tails is the weird field of weird things nearby. From the highway, it appears to be a wind-energy farm (with really tiny turbines!). From close up, it appears to be another stoner project: there are hundreds of poles with propellor beanies on top in a field. It might be a wind-energy generating project, but there are no wires from the windmills to the tubes... no idea what they are. On the way back to the car, we stumbled across a tiny little sign that explained the alien field: it's an art installation to inspire the watching of the wind, or light, or some such thing. The spinny-thingies turn in the wind and drive tiny generators at the top of the tube which power LEDs that light up the tubes. It was daylight when we were there, so we didn't see the display, but the sunset made the tubes look pretty cool. Look below, and imagine standing amidst hundreds of these eight-foot-tall poles. Kinda freaky/cool!
Levi hams it up near one of the alien light sticks.
The real reason that we stopped to see the tails is the weird field of weird things nearby. From the highway, it appears to be a wind-energy farm (with really tiny turbines!). From close up, it appears to be another stoner project: there are hundreds of poles with propellor beanies on top in a field. It might be a wind-energy generating project, but there are no wires from the windmills to the tubes... no idea what they are. On the way back to the car, we stumbled across a tiny little sign that explained the alien field: it's an art installation to inspire the watching of the wind, or light, or some such thing. The spinny-thingies turn in the wind and drive tiny generators at the top of the tube which power LEDs that light up the tubes. It was daylight when we were there, so we didn't see the display, but the sunset made the tubes look pretty cool. Look below, and imagine standing amidst hundreds of these eight-foot-tall poles. Kinda freaky/cool!
Levi hams it up near one of the alien light sticks.
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