Windmills

The blog IS THERE ANYTHING OF INTEREST by Rozanne recounting her vacation hiking in Eastern Oregon and her terrific photos of abandoned and decrepit homes, barns and sheds was delightful to read and absorb the images. It brought back my own fondness of finding similiar buildings along with old windmills in my travels around Texas and other states and backroads.

I find old windmills facinating but I do not know why. As a child we had one that pumped water into a tank for the cattle. The creaks that emanated from the play of the wind on the sails was a constant background noise when you were outside.

Of course windmills have been around in the world for several hundred years. I have not been to the Windmill Farm in Hood County Texas but must add that to my "must sees".

In an article I read in Texas Agriculture stated "the windmill not the six shooter" is really how the west was won. Railroads had to have water for the steam engines and here in Nebraska, away from the rivers, farms had to have access to water. My Great Grandmother picked the spot for their house, almost in the middle of their acreage because of a spring that cooled the milk and butter and provided water for them. The well that they put in later, did not have to be real deep. Windmill weights were also manufactured in Nebraska. They were made of cast iron and slowed down the speed of the blades in high winds to protect the plunger rod. I had a chance once to get a Dempster Short Tailed horse and passed it up. Wish I could replay that scenario.