I’ve done a lot of traveling in my day, but never spent much time in Chicago – “The Windy City” – other than a quick layover in O’Hare. I have, however, spent many, many years in Nebraska. When I moved back home after living in Denver for two years, I recall thinking, “I don’t remember Nebraska being this windy!” But I guess it is:

For the purpose of identifying the states offering the best wind power resources, the Department of Energy has analyzed which have the strongest and lightest winds. The windiest weather tends to occur in the Plains, while the least windy weather occurs in the Southeast.

The top 5 windiest states are: Nebraska (1), Kansas (2), South Dakota (3), North Dakota (4), and Iowa (5). (From the Washington Post.)

So it wasn’t only in my head. Nebraska tops the list of windiest states, beating Kansas (which was a surprise to me). Hold onto your hats!

When I was visiting my grandparents this past weekend, ironically enough, grandma showed me this beautiful hat pin holder. Ladies would weave one of these slender pins through their hair and hat in hopes of keeping their hat on their head on windy Nebraska days.

People say about the cold in Nebraska: You’ve lived there for years…you should be used to it! Maybe they say the same about the wind. Chalk it up to a lot of bad hair days.

Until we walk again …