and Dave Elkinton on that day? The day I first saw purple dead nettle (Lamium purpureum). There it was-a planter in front of the DNR Operations Center jam-packed with pagoda-layered leaves in shades of mauve, lilac and lavender. Beautiful. I was with Karen Bird walking into the building for, as I recall, the spring 1978 Highlands Conservancy meeting. After the meeting, I asked a couple of DNR people if I might take a plant home. I knew Mary Moore Rieffenberger from our Mountain Weavers Guild, but it was my introduction to Joe. His response was, "That? It’s a damned weed!" He did identify it. So I took a start of the alien home and over the years sang its praises as ornamental, bee forage, cover crop, food and medicine, sent seeds up to Richters Herbs and moved some to my "new" house in 1998. Back to May 15th. I spread the plants around, picked up the Highlands Voice and the rest of the mail and came in for lunch. "Good.," I said, "I’ll read part of this now. Great! They’ve changed their minds! And there’s Yimby! Finally. What?? Energy hog?? Hunh? Some years ago, I and, no doubt, many others began saying "Yes! In my backyard" to focus on energy independence. Back on September 11, 2007, I began calling and writing Conservancy members requesting, asking, imploring, begging (etc.) you to come to the AAUW Dodds-talk, the Randolph County Commission’s public forum, and The AES presentations in Elkins and Belington and then later to write the Public Service Commission to protest the AES siting certificate application for the proposed Laurel Mountain giant wind turbines. I made up a little quiz which some of you and hundreds of others have received. On September 13, I began pushing for a positive, affirmative position to foil the big energy companies. The world has the conservation, design, and construction knowledge and application skills to survive very nicely with a "Yes! In my backyard …" approach. We do not need giant wind turbines