Turbines | Ellensburg, WA | 2017
Geez, it’s friggin’ freezing on the patio of the visitors center of the Wild Horse Wind Farm. The west wind streams relentlessly — 20 mph? 30 mph? — to give in-your-face meaning to “current of air.” It just won’t let up. A giant arctic parka braced at the railing turns to face me. I can see a woman’s wide, excited eyes deep in the fur-lined hood. “It comes from China!” She shouts, waving to indicate the blow. “You can smell the sea! Can you smell it? Can you?” In a split second, this tiny woman has usurped Nature’s kinetic power to become her own inexplicable force. “CAN YOU, DAMMIT?”
IrwinFoto 