Benedictine monk relaxing atop wind turbine spotted by drone

Published 2:42 pm Saturday, August 29, 2015

PORTSMOUTH, R.I. — A Benedictine monk who works at a private Rhode Island school has discovered that finding solitude is no easy feat, even 175 feet in the air.

Brother Joseph Byron was recently relaxing atop the Portsmouth Abbey School’s wind turbine — as he often does — when a drone zoomed in.

Video taken by the drone, owned by a Californian on vacation, shows Byron sprawled across the turbine’s flat surface, with views of Narragansett Bay in the background. The footage was posted online this week.

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Byron said Friday that alumni he hadn’t heard from in years are contacting him after seeing the video.

He said he found the drone interesting at first but was annoyed after it zoomed by a second time.

Byron said he climbs the turbine, which was installed in 2006, because he enjoys the view.