Blowin in the wind....

Windflowers.......

Scattered across the Midwest landscape, silhouetted against a thousand sunsets, stand the survivors of an endangered simple joy some here call windflowers! Rusty, with broken blades they stand...caretakers of dreams from another time....proof that answers to obstacles in life can be found blowin' in the wind!

There's something about a windmill standing strong and tall that brings back memories of simpler times. Windmills meant life. Spinning night and day, the windmill was the center of life for our family. The creak of it's gears gave assurance that all was right in the world.....it was a pioneer in the "monkey bar" line of kids toys...and there was nothing better than a tin cup of ice cold water from the red pump handle that stood in the center of the family Dempster masterpiece. It housed the family dinner bell, the dog water dish, hooks for hanging six tin cups...each etched with an initial.....and an assortment of wooden and tin well worn buckets.

Windmills in the Midwest are celebrated....photographed....replicated.....painted....drawn......and collected. There are Windmill Days......Winds of Life Celebrations.....Years of the Windmill.....and Windmill Exhibition sites. The sight of a vintage windmill, standing proud in the setting sun and dancing with the evening wind...... serves as a reminder of the beauty to be found in aging. A reminder that beneath the rust and broken blades life hands us stands a survivor.....still ready to dance with the winds life blows our way.