Saturday Photo: The Windmills of Park Avenue

Wind power is sometimes thought of as a rural thing. Vast windmill farms on gusty hilltops or by the edge of the sea are what usually spring to mind. But a few pioneers are using it in the middle of cities. These windmills have whirled on top of this triplex on Park Avenue for about two years. I haven't had the courage to go and ring the door bell to ask questions, but perhaps I should.

This part of Montreal is full of little gardens on rooftops, balconies and in backyards, despite the fact that Park Avenue is one of the city's most traveled. It also is home to Emmanuel Cosgrove, who recently received an LEED platinum rating for his triplex, just a block to the south.

And, oh yes, that orange poster on the top balcony in the picture is one for Thomas Mulcair, the NDP candidate in a by election September 17. Mulcair left the provincial Liberal party (he'd been minister of environment and sustainable development for three years) over policy differences, among them the Liberals' plan to sell off part of a provincial park.

Why am I not surprised to find windmills and the poster in such close proximity?