Tim was raking hay this summer and told about the big whirlwind he had seen with a very wide path that tore up parts of the windrows he had just raked up. This one, he said, was the BIGGEST and widest one he’s ever seen! Out west whirlwinds are called “Dust Devils”.  Whirlwinds are really cool. They’re nothing more than “Mini Tornadoes”. They kick up dust and look like the Tasmanian Devil moving! More often than not, they are very small and move along and stir up a little dust in a path that measures less than a foot or so. These kinds are also ever brief and oftentimes die out almost as fast as they begin. However, as aforementioned and mentioned below, they can be really big and wide and last for quite awhile. When we were kids, if we saw one, we would try and run into it. Usually this proved to be very difficult because they usually move fast and have erratic paths. Once and awhile, they moved straight and slowly, and then we could easily get into them. When we were older, while disking the fields, it was easy to spot whirlwinds. If it was dry enough, they would kick up a lot of dust. If they were big enough, the dust would go really high in the air. We never missed an opportunity to jump off the tractor and try our best to get into it. When we succeeded, it really felt weird to have the wind blow all around us and get covered with swirling dust! If we were wearing a hat (or a “cap” as our Uncle Ned used to call them), it would fly off our head and go up in the air. We may have lost a few hats (aka “caps) doing that, but the fun and excitement easily outweighed the loses.

 

It seems like a quirk of nature, that really big whirlwinds usually hit the windrows while we were raking hay. I suppose it’s the same quirk that tornadoes always hit trailer parks. I’ve proposed that municipalities erect fake trailer parks out side the city limits. This would prevent tornadoes from hitting the urban areas. Also along this same line, I’ve proposed that in order to cause it to rain anywhere there’s a drought, all you have to do is to have someone either cut hay or wash his or her car.

 

When Tim and I were kids, we both saw another really big whirlwind. You guessed it; we were raking hay at the time. It tore up several windrows in its wide path. As best as I can recall the path was around 10 feet or so wide! We had to go back and rerake several windrows at those spots.

 

Even these days, when I’m going past a bare dry dusty field and see a whirlwind, I’m tempted to run out of my vehicle and run into it just like I did when I was a kid. Actually, I’ve been known to do this around here in recent years! Well, as they say, “What goes around comes around”!

 

Maybe in my spare time, I could invent some kind of a “whirly” warning system for impending whirlwinds. Then I could grab my hat (aka “cap”) and wait for it to cross my path! I just may stumble on just such a system. At least I can give it a “whirl”! What do I have to lose? (Other than my hat aka “cap”).