AbsoluteZeroBlog

Windmill field from afar

Hello from the island of Gotland off the east coast of Sweden! It’s a good thing that Kate and I both bought new hats while we were in Malmö, because the weather out here has been very windy and quite cold.

Driving to Oskarshamn we saw a motorcade of vehicles with flashing lights surrounding three incredibly large trucks that, after closer inspection, were each carrying a blade for a windmill to be newly installed. It was an amazing sight that I didn’t think could be improved upon... until today. After breakfast we decided that because it was raining we would jump in the car and drive the perimeter of the entire island of Gotland. About an hour into our journey the rain subsided and we ran across an entire colony of modern windmills - all functioning - that you could get out and walk among. It was beautiful, and also very eerie. When you’re standing directly beneath one it suddenly becomes very clear that if anything were to suddenly go wrong you could be squished like a grape beneath a falling blade. The sound these windmills make, too, is not like many things I’ve heard before. Kate likened them to the sound of being on an airplane, but in an airplane that whirring noise is constant - unlike hearing each individual blade pass a mere 30 to 40 feet above our heads. And in a field of these things there is no such thing as a stillness in the air. It was incredibly cool.

A little closer

Also on our trip to the island, we had to take a ship from Oskarshamn to the port in Visby, where we are staying. Now I don’t know how many of you have ever been onboard a ship before, but has anyone ever noticed how difficult it is to urinate standing up while on a moving ship? I’m really glad there weren’t rough waters or I might have needed a new pair of shoes!

Now there aren’t any moose on the island, no surprise, but one of the things I’ve noticed on the mainland is that there seem to be two different “Moose Crossing” signs, as I like to call them. The first is insinuates that “Oh hello. There might be moose in this area, if you please” and the other is “LOOK OUT: A GIANT MOOSE THAT WILL DESTROY YOUR CAR AND EAT YOUR CHILDREN!” The difference between the two signs is very subtle, but on one the moose seems much more intimidating than on the other. I hope I will be able to document the difference in photographs, but it’s difficult (not impossible) to stop when you’re on a major expressway.

Tomorrow we plan to walk around the city’s outer wall that dates back to the 12th Century, and do... you guessed it... more shopping! There are still a few people on my list, and I hope to complete at least one more tomorrow. Then around 5:00 we’re off to our final destination: Stockholm! I hope to blog at least once more before I make it home on Sunday evening, and I plan to do a “best of the rest” entry for photos once I’ve been back and have had the chance to mull over this entirely amazing experience.

Until later, friends...