AN ENERGY RIOT ON THE PLAINS:

Driving south out of the agricultural town of Ainsworth, you can’t miss its newest crop: wind turbines, three dozen of them, with steel stalks 230 feet high and petal-like blades 131 feet long, sprouting improbably from the sand hills of north-central Nebraska, beside ruminating cattle. Though painted gray, the turbines stand out against the evening backdrop of battleship-colored thunderclouds and bear an almost celestial whiteness when day’s light is right. Airplane pilots can spot them from far away, and rarely does a bird make their unfortunate acquaintance.

Nobody tell Ted Kennedy. And, yes, Riot on the Plains is my favorite Frontier Trust song. But I’ve been trying to work the phrase “Willa Cather Proud” into a post for ages without success . . . .