Kansas – Well Hell, It Almost Ain't Like Nothin' At All

We drive through Kansas darkness. There are about two to three dozen radio stations, about half are talk radio, most of the other half are country and a mere one or two are “normal” music. To the left of I-70 Eastbound, near mile 220, something catches my eye as I look up from the computer screen. Maybe fifty feet in the air dozens of red lights blink on and off like a firefly orgy. What must be dozens of giant wind turbines tower over the landscape, invisible in the pitch but for their ruby warning lights. I suggest how awesome it would look if each blade tip had a light, my father asks, “Like those toys at the circus that change colors?” I say, “Almost, but it would still be cool even if they were all red”, as I think about the aesthetics or lack thereof in so much modern engineering. While the early-January Kansas scenery offers little during the day, the night may offer a vision of red electric sex. Pretend bug sex--if only fireflies glowed in various colors summer nights in grassy regions would offer a biological light show unrivaled by any of human creation.