Having wide, unobstructed views — like having big windows to let daylight in — are pleasant perks at this time of year, when gray skies and rain are our lot in life. As you know, our hamlet's overhead electrical feeder wires were replaced by an undergound cable a couple of months ago.
If you can see the patch of black dirt in the center foreground of this photo taken from one of our our back windows, you know where one of the the ugly concrete utility poles stood.
The old wires were strung up on tall concrete poles, two of which were located on the western edge of our property, marring our views of the Renaudière vineyard. Now the poles have been knocked down — sawed off, really. They are history.
One man sat at the controls of a pelle mécanique with the business end pushing the pole in the direction where they wanted it to fall, while the other man sawed the pole off close ground level.
In this deal, we made out like bandits. We didn't have to pay a single centime. We got rid of two unsightly poles. And we don't have to worry so much any more about power cuts caused by falling trees pulling down overhead wire or lightning striking transformers hanging on poles during storms. Both of those things happened in 2010 and 2011, leaving us without electricity for days at a time.
Alllllll good news!
ReplyDeleteSo PM Holland has done some good things too, although I expect the budget for you pole removal was set many years ago.
ReplyDeleteFrom snowy New Bern where I've been trapped for two days, may I say that I sure wish the electric companies here would follow the French example and bury the wires. Instead they butcher our trees. This time we didn't lose electricity but it's just because the ice storm turned to snow in the nick of time.
ReplyDeleteLibbie
Glad that New Bern kept their power! It made all the difference during our Alabama catastrophe.
ReplyDeleteIt's funny but I didn't quite realise how ugly the poles were until I now see how lovely is the view without them.
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