In Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes, the title character
spurs his horse into an attack on the windmills he believes to be giants
menacing his beloved homeland. From this
important 17th Century Spanish novel, the phrase “tilting at
windmills” has entered the English language.
It refers to those we sometimes incorrectly view as our enemies, or actions
we undertake in response to threats that may not be as dangerous as we believe.
Last week, I looked through the pictures that Ashley Jackson
placed on his Facebook page. Many are
photographs of his paintings. Ashley has
often said that the novels of the Bronte sisters served as a huge inspiration
to him. The feelings that imbue
Charlotte, Emily, and Anne’s writing are the same ones he tries to evoke in his
paintings. Understanding his love for
their stories helps me understand how much he loves the landscape surrounding
Haworth, where the sisters lived and wrote some of their immortal stories. Given that, he naturally opposes anything
that might blight his beloved moorland. Chief
among his concerns are a wind farm five miles away from Haworth, which plans to
erect taller giants than those Don Quixote battled. These new invaders will stand over three
hundred feet in height.
Having visited Haworth last year, I can attest to the surrounding
moorland’s beauty. The wind farms he is
protesting are nothing in comparison to the army I saw marching outside
Mojave. Yet, he is concerned that
constructing more and taller windmills will not only desecrate the land, but
also damage it in the name of green energy. As a lover of Fiction, much of the impetus for
my visits to England came from reading the works of English authors, as well as
the TV show adaptations. Could I visit
Haworth, and in the presence of such tall windmills, still see the landscape of Jane Eyre
or Wuthering Heights? And is that an
important consideration, when weighed against the potential benefits to the
local residents?
I love the sleek design and capabilities of these modern
windmills, and I thought they enlivened the landscape near Mojave. That doesn’t mean that I would have welcomed
their presence in Red Rock Canyon State Park, however. So, is Ashley right to oppose these proposed
behemoths? Ultimately, it’s up to those
living in a given area to decide how best to use their land. For Ashley’s sake, and for all who hold the
Bronte sisters’ moorland sacred, I hope the locals get the public debate necessary
to make a wise decision in this matter.
For how our world looks to us—how we make it look--and consequently how
it makes us think and feel, is just as important as how we use it to generate
power and ease our finances.
Dragon Dave
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