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Reporting from Palm Springs, California, my sister took this movie.

I love that you can see the windmills up close in the movie. There are several hundred windmills at this site in Palm Springs as shown by this photo which I can't figure out how to display here. (I think it may be because Flickr does not allow All Rights Reserved photos to be embedded though I'm not sure.)

As you may have guessed, these windmills exist to generate electricity. The first time I saw a windmill like this was in Western Massachusetts and it took my breath away because it was so beautiful. Some people feel that the windmills pollute the views of the area. I've never been to Palm Springs and I don't know what this area looked like before the windmill farm, but I'm hesitant to diss their existence. Not only do they have a zen-like, synchronous magic to them, but they were erected in the hopes of a minimalist, peaceful form of energy.

(As a side note, one of my students called me a "non-drug hippie" recently. To another faculty member. I guess I can't blame her.)

In other news, it has come to my attention that "Higher Love" by Steve Winwood may be about god loving. You know, about "worship" or whatever, in a Christian sense. And it's freaking me out. I received the Talking Back to the Night cassette as a gift in junior high from a girlfriend. Although I enjoyed listening to the radio and knew the words to many songs back then (I was in full 1980s pop mode) I was sort of behind in the whole music-ownership thing. The Hooters' One Way Home was my own first purchase, made after an incredible amount of internal debate. But then Bonnie Huggins gave me Talking Back to the Night and Invisible Touch by Genesis for my birthday. I enjoyed both albums a lot and was very grateful for the gift because I really liked both of them and plus, she tripled my collection. Anyway, I got into Higher Love, like a lot of people did. I liked the percussion solo part, I liked the horns, and, even now, I think it's a decent song. I really do. But J and I were listening to the lyrics today while eating tacos and I grew horrified.

Here are the lyrics - I'll take out the refrain:
Think about it, there must be higher love
Down in the heart or hidden in the stars above
Without it, life is a wasted time
Look inside your heart, I'll look inside mine
Things look so bad everywhere
In this whole world, what is fair?
We walk blind and we try to see
Falling behind in what could be

Worlds are turning and we're just hanging on
Facing our fear and standing out there alone
A yearning, and it's real to me
There must be someone who's feeling for me [note that this is left ambiguous]
Things look so bad everywhere
In this whole world, what is fair?
We walk blind and we try to see
Falling behind in what could be

I will wait for it
I'm not too late for it
Until then, I'll sing my song
To cheer the night along
Bring it...Oh bring it...

I could light the night up with my soul on fire
I could make the sun shine from pure desire
Let me feel that love come over me [!!!]
Let me feel how strong it could be

Bring me a higher love
Bring me a higher love
Bring me a higher love
Where's that higher love I keep thinking of?

Dude, it's totally about god and shit. Don't you think? Ugh. I am notoriously bad about actually thinking about the lyrics I sing, when I know them (I hardly ever do) and this serves me right. I can just see all of the Christians standing together with their arms high and palms spread, swaying and crying now. Maybe Steve's "someone" is a real person. Maybe. But probably not.

Okay, I'm over it.