Davis-Besse nuclear power plant from 10 miles away. (Rich Norgard photo) |
The Davis-Besse nuclear power plant, roughly ten miles distant, looked much closer, as the photo I snapped above will attest. My first realization, though, that this was a special day was when I looked out over the lake and saw that West Sister Island was not only visible but was clear as bell. Now on most days you can't see the island at all. The island is about 18 miles as the crow flies across the water. Even on fairly clear days it's just not there. More astounding still, just to the left of West Sister I could see quite clearly the huge smoke stacks at Monroe, Michigan, and adjoining structures. (See photo below) Now often times you can see the tops of the stacks but almost never the buildings themselves. I'd always attributed the inability to see more as due to the curvature of the earth. But on Tuesday some phenomena was at work that flattened the earth, metaphorically, allowing objects normally over the horizon to be visible. If you are a tekkie and happen to know what this is, please let me know and I'll share it.
The smoke stacks on the left, located in Monroe, Michigan, visible to the naked eye from 36 miles away. West Sister Island, on the right, at a distance of 18 miles. (Rich Norgard photo) |
Lake Erie reveals many wonders, but Tuesday was a very special day indeed.
I've always loved places where you can see distant objects on the horizon. Don't know if anyone's still monitoring this blog, but this post made me feel awesome! Lake Erie rules.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the nice comment, Peter! Although I have not kept this blog active, I still monitor posts. Thanks for writing.
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