Weather Vane Watch

My subject for today is going to be a little different. It's not wildlife, or plants, or trails. It's about Weather Vanes, also known as wind vanes. I'm actually going to start hunting these weather vanes, and do a series of posts called Weather Vane Watch.

I did part of this post before, but now I'm going to update it in a big way. I noticed after doing the first one that weather vanes are harder to find now than I thought they would be, so I thought it would be an interesting quest, and a great everyday adventure. I now have two different weather vanes in my collection, and more on the way.

I was out walking around town, and saw this weather vane on top of one of the public buildings. I never actually thought of anything like this before, but a weather vane is a part of nature, just like anything else. But what does it do? What is it's intended purpose?

The purpose of a weather vane is to tell us which direction the wind is blowing. It is designed so that the wind will push it to the direction of least resistance. Then it will point into the wind, therefore pointing in the direction the wind is coming from. In my picture you can see that the wind is coming from the west.

Let me give you a brief history of weather vanes. The oldest known weather vane was on the Tower Of The Winds in Athens, Greece. It's in the shape of the Greek god Triton. It dates back to around 48 BC. Later as the Roman Empire converted to Christianity, they began to put weather vanes on top of their churches.

These weren't Tritons anymore, they were now in the form of roosters, and called weather cocks. Now you can find them on the top of churches everywhere. Today a weather vane can be in the form of anything the maker wants, and they come in all shapes and sizes.

You can find weather vanes on many different types of official building today. All you have to do is look up. In almost every case, it will be found on the highest point of the building, because that is where it works the best. You can even find them on houses and barns. Look to the rooftops around your area, and I'm sure you'll eventually see one of these.

These last two pictures are from the top of the Nature Center at Heritage Park. There are more things up there with the weather vane, and it is actually a crude one, but it still qualifies. I'll be getting them from anywhere I find them from now on. Some will be very beautiful. Of course, I'll only take pictures, not weather vanes.

I think this is going to be a fun addition to the rest of my stuff. One of these times, the sky will be blue again when I get new shots of these wind vanes. These first few were taken in cold weather, so the sky is very gray. I guess that's kind of appropriate for this though.

I guess as I continue, I should start getting pictures of the buildings that these weather vanes are sitting atop. Hopefully this new quest will be a fun and interesting part of The Everyday Adventurer from now on. I like things like this, and I'll be hunting for new ones whenever I can.

A hunt for a weather vane should give anyone a fun, quick outing, and a great everyday adventure. Go out and try it for yourself. It doesn't take that long and you shouldn't have to go very far. Happy hunting!


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• What A Weather Vane Does
• Clarenceville Bridge
• More Clarenceville Bridge
• Cloudy Day Sun
• Snow On The Bridge
• Winter Creek