by Jan Fielden
The saga of the Windmill at Red Oak Ranch! I may have mentioned I was given a windmill by a friend of mine. I have wanted a “real” windmill for years, but I wanted one that was squeaking. The Colonel didn’t see that as a good thing just as something that needed to be repaired. He, in fact, was against the idea all along. He had questions like: what will you use it for, where would we put it, how would we get it home, etc.? You know, all those questions husbands ask when they have no intention of getting you something you have mentioned on and off for a long time.
Anyway, a friend gave me a little one about 6 feet high and I was excited to get it. We put it up in the yard and the first day the blades fell off. We must have put them back on a hundred times. We came home one day and the whole thing had fallen over with the blades a little distance away. Fixed that and I start thinking maybe we need to tie it to a tree so it can’t fall over but I couldn’t figure out how to keep the blades from falling off. The Colonel came to the rescue, fixed it so they would stay in and I was thrilled. I still wanted the “real” one but was happy with the garden variety one.
Left for a while one day, came home and there was the windmill on its’ side, blades lying off in the distance, and I just gave up. It was fixed one more time and when we looked outside this morning the poor little windmill’s rudder was turning but there were no blades going around. Oh, well, I guess the Red Oak Ranch has too much wind up on this hill to have a windmill. I just remembered, there are some spots on the ranch that are lower and almost no wind…wonder if The Colonel would be game?
