Here is my contribution to Christmas colors of red and green. This puzzle took my undivided attention for nearly 2 weeks.

Here is some red and green from the Thanksgiving morning Blessing of the Hounds

Not much red and green. Son took this when I was doing dishes.

Son and grandson counting the GREEN from the money box!

We bought this little Norfolk Pine last year for our Christmas tree. He's thriving and will be our tree from now on. Red and green theme.

shot this on my way home yesterday. I like seeing them, even though I know how much the government is subsidizing this... which means, we are paying for it.

Windmill farms. Blight on the landscape. I can see them from every where on my property. Driving down the road with them on both sides is disconcerting. What if one of those blades decides to take off? You have no idea how big they are until you are next to one.

Red and green from a couple of years ago.

I am happy, I had them pass me, while I was out cycling. It's a HUGE rush. Guess, I am more happy go lucky?? and not bothered by them.

The dangerous chemicals released by burning coal to produce electricity in many parts of the US, especially the Midwest, are a much bigger blight than windmills. Not only on the landscape but on plants, animals, and people.

Blades don't detach often, that's a rare occurrence. And anyway, they're usually in remote locations where there are few people around. Adverse health consequences from burning coal happen daily.

Moni, be happy, those windmills are graceful and lovely to watch because they are part of the clean energy future.

The owners of the properties where the wind turbines are located are generally compensated nicely for the lost farmland (including access roads).

Many European counties have a large part of their electricity created by wind turbines. They were prevalent in Spain when I was there a couple of years ago.

There are huge controversies raging regularly in my area. Wind farms are attributed to poor milk production from the cows, and headaches suffered by people who live nearby. I'd like to see them in the lakes, away from people and animals, if indeed they are the source of economic and health issues.

I find them graceful and peaceful. I'd love to have one in the backyard to fuel our apt bldg!

In the lakes? I don't understand, Jasdip. Numerous birds get taken out by the turbines as it is. Would large flocks of waterfowl flying into them be an improvement somehow?

Many of the developers of wind farms have begun placing their turbines in off-the-land locations. A large lake, for instance, would not take up land space and the winds are just as predictable. The Gulf of Mexico will have hundreds of wind turbines within the next decade.

As to waterfowl being affected by the movement of the turbine blades, most birds would recognize the situation if the first bird were to be caught in the slowly moving blades. The rest of the flock would veer away and only a few animals would be harmed. In the case of Canada Geese, that would not amount to a large percentage of those animals that are considered pests where I live. There is also the assumption that migratory waterfowl would fly at that particular altitude. Some geese fly much higher as they migrate.

Do the blades even move fast enough to suck in any birds? Surely they are smart enough to avoid slow moving blades?

I found an answer to my own question: Perhaps the biggest change in wind-farm safety, though, has to do with location. Now, all new turbine proposals are reviewed for ideal, bird-friendly placement. Wind farms cannot be built in migratory pathways, in areas with high bird populations, or in areas with special features that could possibly attract high bird populations in the future. Also, the growing trend toward offshore turbine construction bodes well for birds, since offshore wind farms have fewer bird collisions than land-based farms.

It isn't just birds the size of Canada geese and raptors that get killed; warblers and bats get taken out, too. The numbers are not well documented. I'm sure over a watery grave, the evidence will quickly disappear. Not that there are easy answers or that I am against wind energy sources. But some of the locations that have been approved, were particularly poor choices that were argued against to no avail. And when the companies are allowed to renege multiple times on their safer-turbine replacement agreements, I have little confidence left for their newer promises.

Several thousand wind turbines are located in the Altamont Pass area east of the immediate SF Bay area. There has been a lot of uproar and controversy over some years concerning older turbines that apparently turn faster than newer models and kill many birds (who can't see the rapidly rotating blades).

At the urging of these many interests, several of the companies operating the older turbines have agreed to shut them down and/or replace them with larger and slower turning units that present less of a bird danger.

Except they kept dragging their feet and asking for extensions to make the conversion. They are finally shutting down some of the most dangerous turbines in Altamont Pass, but only because the USFWS is investigating the number of deaths of eagles. The criminal investigation that began appears to be the main reason progress has been made.