Today a windmill popped up in my Work-in-Progress (WIP). I had no idea the subject would ever be written about, with my characters there in the wilds of New Mexico Territory in 1867, but it seems that my Male Main Character is quite proud of having one of the first such pumping engines in the territory on his rancho.

It so happens that back in 2015, I attended a convention in Lubbock Texas, and made a field trip to the American Windmill Museum. It was a glorious day to view the numerous spectacular windmills in the museum’s inventory, both indoors and out.

Did I take copious notes about windmills, in case I ever needed such knowledge? It appears that I didn’t.

I swear I took pictures, though. I know I took pictures in Palo Duro Canyon on my way home from Texas. Can I find said pictures?

No. They are nowhere to be found.

It appears that I have a gap between 2015 and 2016 in my digital record. What?!?

Photo by mhamilton456Instead, by way of illustration for this post, I offer this photo taken by mhamilton456 in 2016 of an outdoor display of some of the windmills at the museum.

I stood, uneasily, beneath that giant white wind turbine shown at center right, my stomach shrinking. The sound was intimidating as the blades whooshed through the air. I moved out from under it as quickly as I could.

The tour of the property was quite fascinating.  Notes or accessible photos would have helped my scene, but I have neither. I’ll just have to dredge deep into my memory, or refresh it by way of viewing photos on the Internet so I can write a passable description of the windmill for my scene.

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