Energy Transition - 2

I was invited to see a small workshop near here which has become a club house of sorts for a small number of energy-pioneers exploring how to build wind-turbines.

Using a design posted on Hugh Piggott’s website – a chap based on one of the world’s windiest places in the Scottish Hebrides.

http://www.scoraigwind.com/

In this workshop there are about ten wind-power turbines under construction. Each one starts with the basic parts which is shaped into the various components.

First, coated copper wire is spun into generator components.

The components are placed according to pattern . . .

. . . and then permanently embedded in fibreglass and resin . . . for weatherproofing. . .

When matched with similarly embedded magnets, the assembly is fixed to hand-carved wooden blades and connected to the welded steel frame which will hold the mechanism 40 feet in the air.

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Time Travelling

Some of the greatest achievements of the past century were built in the garages of North American homes.

Here, individuals built whatever their imaginations could draw, and as the oil age accelerated – their imaginations drew pictures of cars.

The hobbies are still travelling in a couple garages near to the Time Traveller’s base of operations. Here there are examples of the finest “Hot Rods” featuring sub-9-second vehicles true to the racing principles of a few decades ago.

Hand built, these cars raced on nearby raceways when even the Time Traveller was young. They are still racing now – carrying a message from a time when people built dreams in their garages with their bare hands,

Menagerie's Journey

Within a couple minutes of the Time Traveller’s most recent landing site is a farm famous for horses. It is also home to other forms of life, creating an oasis of life reminiscent of the old style farms.
Here there are Peacocks . . . over a dozen of them.

There is a large heavy black cat which may count some ancient Egyptian line among its ancestors.

There are burros ready to carry supplies up to the Armenian monasteries in nearby mountains . . .

There are masked raccoons living in the barn . . .

And all these different creatures bask in the glory of the great horses . . .

. . . big and small preparing to prosper in future glory.

Roof line Time line

The current of time has carried many people into this part of Ontario – small families and great families, poor and wealthy. Some brought memories and knowledge of houses from former lands and as they built a new life they made those memories real again. Some homes were modelled upon the glory of Empires past.

While others followed the lines of more practical philosophies

Some homes were small and simple

Others were spectacles of Grand architecture . .

Some were built out of charity – such as this bird house

Some are more recent - such as this house from the 1960's . . .

Others have been around for so long that the trees in their yards have grown into giants.

And others are even older . . . . old enough to have been used as an Armenian monastery.

Evolution Urbane

As one travels through time the human condition seems to be getting better - at least in places like this. These changes arelinked to knowledge – spreading at increasing rate, volume, and quality – and the “ethic” governing what to do with that knowledge. In one Ontario town I see evidence of changes in municipal governance as they apply best practices to improve the quality of urban life. “X” marks the spot of a planned repair to a small crack in the sidewalk.

Sidewalks in this town areregularly repaired to remove edges to ensure safety. Every corner is graded to be flush with the street to allow handicapped access – so the entire town is easily accessible for the handicapped and their electric carts.

Recycling programs have been implemented to reduce waste.

An innovative garden waste depot provides a free dump site for residents – and a pickup place for free mulch and chipped wood.

Flower pots are installed along the main street.

And appropriate safety standards for road repair are routinely applied.
Bike trails are installed along the creek pathways.

And a “water park” has been installed for children.

The Thickening

In this strange moist northern land Time is counted with quick days – each one a fast step in the race of summer against the coming winter. But for now the summer is winning. Trees grow thicker and greener and the streets disappear into shade.

Waterways merge into luxuriant forest . . .

Pathways begin to shrink under rising grass and Otto, the patron saint of garages, has almost disappeared into the rising green,

Gardens evolve with new patterns and colours.

And great clouds rise and tumble in the summer skies preparing the next rain storm.

The Famous

Although just a small town nestled beside a small river, Ingersoll has been a starting point for its share of fame. Sister Aimee Semple McPherson was one of the continents famous evangelists and Los Angeles media celebrities at the dawn of radio - and was raised on a farm a couple kilometres from here.



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aimee_Semple_McPherson
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fnHNUIx-bks
She found religion in a revival meeting that may have been held in this old church – now converted to a house – just two blocks from the Time Traveller’s current base of operations.

Another famous Ingersoll resident is alive and well, although retired. He is a neighbour who doesn’t talk so much and sometimes seems lost in memories of past victories. “Run The Table” is a leading member of the Canadian Horse Racing Hall of Fame and makes his home at the stables a couple blocks away. He is one of several outstanding horses boarded here in town.
http://www.canadianhorseracinghalloffame.com/standardbred/2006/RunTheTable.html

Quest for Fitness

To prepare for the challenges and uncertainties of time travel – one needs to take every opportunity to routinely keep in physical shape. Small town Ontario has benefited from public funding for recreation in the past 15 years – and from education about the need for healthy community resources. This town has a community fitness centre with pool . . .

. . . and a fairly well equipped gym . . .

. . . and a well-equipped locker room.

While in this timeline, the time traveller rides his bike here most days of the week before the library opens . . .

Spring Forward

In this strange land water is not distributed from rivers to the land – but is instead distributed from the sky to the land. On a more or less regular basis the skies turn grey with surging clouds and water falls from the heavens.

Car windows are rinsed with clear water . . .

and horizons are cloaked in a mist not unlike a dust storm.

And when the rain passes, colours in the sky are left shining through.

. . . and the flowers are fresh and bright . . .

Each rain advances the season, changing by the day. A green path one day is alive with colour the next and then cut and dried in the sun the following week.

Time gives strength to young legs that a few days ago were just learning to stand.

And marks a living history that is still going strong.

Elapsed Time

Some places I recognize from visits long ago. They seem like islands in a changing sea – somehow not eroded by waves. There is a miniature golf course where I may have played as a youth.

A flying club from where I may have been strapped in an uncomfortable and noisy seat which smelled of high octane aviation fuel.

And there is a now-converted farmer’s market where I used to help buy farmer’s vegetables, cod and salmon, and the best summer sausage ever made.

And there is a racing drag-strip where I watched supercharged hot rods race the ¼ mile in less than 8 seconds.

And then there is still a green path where I walked to high school so long ago.