The Windmill Game

If you have even driven across the Great Plains, in particular I-80, you might have been a little bored every so often. I know, for some people the sight of cornfield after cornfield stirs their soul, but others are not quite as fond of it.

Riveting.

So what does one do to pass the time? If you’re like many families, you play a road game. One that is a particular favorite of us plains dwellers is the “Windmill Game”. In this game, the first person to spot a particular windmill gets 1 point. By my wife’s rules, windmill towers without the head count as a full windmill, but wind turbines to generate electricity don’t count. The other participants then will need to verify the windmill for the point to count.

However, if you call a windmill and it turns out that it wasn’t a windmill, you lose all your points. This rule leads you to stare at a windmill for a while to make sure it is one. The person with the most points at the destination or by a certain town on the road wins.

If one looks closely, they can see there are two windmills in this picture. If you can’t see that, maybe this game is not for you.

Variations of this game include special rules, such as the driver getting two points per windmill because driving makes it hard to play the game. When brothers are playing, they often play the extreme game where the first person to see a windmill gets to punch the other brothers, just like “Slug Bug”. Either way, it’s good family fun.

So the next time you are driving across the prairie and wish for a little fun, try the windmill game. It’ll make the miles fly by quickly! But not too quickly, because if you speed the Iowa State Patrol will most certainly write you a ticket.

-Jake

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