Look What The Wind Blew In

Linda Burton posting from Cheyenne, Wyoming – “Does the wind blow here all the time?” brought me a loud “Yes!’ from the restaurant hostess in answer. I’d just walked across the parking lot for my Sunday evening dinner with shoulders hunched against the strong winds, my jacket zipped to the top. Yesterday it tried to blow the limbs off my Christmas cactus as I unloaded the car; I ran fast to get inside the first of the double doors. And the doors have signs instructing “High Winds Please Pull Door Shut.” Even the little card-swiper devices for unlocking the doors have protective lids over them; you have to lift in order to insert the card. I need to find out about the wind fences I saw alongside the freeway, I’m thinking, remembering mile after mile of curved wooden rails that seem to be connected to nothing, but are everywhere, on the windward side of the road. That was one clue, for sure. And after all, I know Cheyenne sits high on the mountain plains; elevation 6,098 feet, the second-highest of the 50 capital cities.  I picked up a brochure before I sat down. » read more