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“I’ve never been a breakfast person. I wouldn’t eat until 2, but now I’m forcing down a raw-food bar in the mornings. Otherwise, my glucose levels would go like this. (She motions a wave with hand).
“I’m living with my husband in Footville, Wisconsin and have started learning so much about plants. He’s a prairie restoration expert. When I moved to the midwest I hadn’t realized how close-minded I was. I mean, I’m liberal with multiple L’s. Llllllllliberal. I never thought I’d be such close friends with – be able to love people so much – whose views are so different from mine. My friend invited me to church with her. Most people in Footville are Evangelical. Part of me was expecting the entire service to be about how terrible liberals were, but it wasn’t like that at all.
“I’ve gotten very involved with wind turbine advocacy. My friends in the midwest call them ‘turbans.’ They’re 400 feet high when measured to the tip of the blade and newer ones will be 500 feet. They’re only required to be 350 steps away from a house, and they’re wreaking havoc with a lot of peoples’ bodies. That repeated sonic boom is making it hard for people to concentrate or even sleep. Studies are showing how the continual vibration of soft tissue causes it to harden. It’s also messing with the inner ear. I don’t want to call it Wind Turbine Syndome – there’s a researcher at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine named Dr. Nina Pierpont who’s published a book on it – but Wind Turbine Syndrome? (laughs) I’m not sure how people would respond to that.
“The wind turbines are killing bats too. You’d think these bats — the only flying mammal — could outfly wind turbines, but we keep finding dead ones at their bases. It turned out they were flying into sudden drops in air pressure caused by the motion of the blades – the bats were dying of the bends. Their lungs were collapsing.
“I never expected to get so involved. I’ve become such close friends with those in my community. Dr. Forni’s work on civility has transformed our meetings with wind turbine companies. His work is so important to me. It was incredible to meet him last night.
“I’ve given myself two more years to pour everything into this, and then I need to focus on my writing again. I don’t miss being in New York City or Chicago. Seattle was never a good fit for me. I don’t mind not being around people – I mean when there are people I’m like the friendly dog in the neighborhood that has to run up and get to know everyone. It’s just the images are always with me no matter where I am. The mentality of artists in New York can be distracting. I need to keep striving and not get caught up in it. You keep thinking as an artist that you’ll someday reach a point when you’ll graduate and have it figured out.
“It’s like that with faith too. I grew up a strict Roman Catholic and went through a hard-core atheist phase. You think you’re going to graduate and come to conclusions about things, but the questions remain. That competition between disbelief and God will always be with you until the final punctuation (laughs).
“My depression influences shifts in my work. I’ve dealt with it since I was a little girl. I think drawing – the creative process – is essential for our mental health. I’ve been memorizing poetry. Especially Emily Dickinson. There’s something about the form that is able to contain an image so concisely. It’s been tremendous for my creative process.”
(This article has been transcribed from notes from the interview)
Lynda Barry’s book What It Is, published in May 2008, is a richly illustrated work book detailing her creative writing process and is based upon her Writing the Unthinkable workshop.
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