** The majority of this column was written nearly two years ago, however for a lot of reasons, has been updated and ready for publication now.** Recently a friend of mine and I were talking about some changes in our area. We have had three solar farms built recently and there is talk about a wind farm. She brought up how wind turbines are responsible for killing birds. That's a known fact that everyone can agree to, however exactly how many birds and what to do about the bird strikes is up for debate. This conversation tells us a bit about the type of people we want to be. We are going to have to make trade offs in the future and we need to determine what those tradeoffs will be. Wind turbine's are constructed in a location that meets certain criteria to meet it's full effectiveness. What happens if location X is also the breeding ground of a nearly extinct bird? Can they still breed if the tower, or solar panel or geothermal ...
Can the City Mouse adjust to life in the country? The day to day adventures of a "city boy" in rural PA trying to adjust to things like chopping wood, growing his own food and dealing with the horrors of the complete lack of a decent Chinese restaurant.