Blowing in the Wind

Today’s post is a result of a request from FOB Paula Ryan O’Brien, who found the weather vanes around Gloucester to be as varied as they are numerous.  We either don’t have as many weather vanes at home or I just haven’t noticed them, but Paula made a good point to “look up” and check out Glosta Vanes.  And this is some of what we found:

The variety and artistry of these seem to speak to the personalities of the property owners.  Though I realize wind direction is vital information for fishermen and boaters, it appears to me most of these vanes are more decorative than informative.  I’m pretty sure my own roof would be sporting one if I had a roof available around here.

And, of course, (because it’s me and I  can’t help myself) there’s an interesting history to the use of weather vanes throughout history that you might find interesting here. Before you scoff, did YOU know their use dates back to Ancient Greece???? I’m imagining Socrates studying a vane for wind direction. Or maybe he just liked the way it looked atop the Parthenon.