I found Greenville's hard work and ingenuity all the way up in Illinois!
During a recent trip up to Illinois and back we were able to drive from the Northern end of the state back down through central Illinois on secondary highways. As we drove I was reminded of my farming roots as I watched farmer after farmer out in their fields cultivating or planting their crops for the '09 growing season. It seems that the tractors continue to get bigger and the planters, plows, and disks continue to get wider, but the peaceful view rekindled warm memories of the Midwestern farm.
But soon on the horizon, we encountered a farm of a different kind! Standing far above the coming corn or bean crops of the prairie state, we found two huge groups of wind farms! Like flower buds, standing far above the fields, stood turbine after turbine. It seemed that the field of wind turbines went on and on, each one turning slowly in the gentle breeze of the evening.
Many of us have seen pictures in a magazine or read about "Wind Farms." Now I've seen them for myself and let me assure you that they are bigger and more mighty than a picture can depict.
All the way up in the Midwestern farm belt, each wind turbine took up only a small footprint of space in the field that will soon be turning green again with the long-time customary crops of the region. But today those crops will be supplemented by a new crop. A crop of Greenville, South Carolina's ingenuity, hard work, and Greenville's investment in clean air and clean power.
Now, with a warm heart for my Midwestern roots, I was reminded of how proud I was of Greenville, South Carolina.
