The Windmill Explained

A 'windmill' (n.) is a machine which converts the energy of wind into rotational motion by means of adjustable vanes called sails. The main use is for a grinding mill powered by the wind, reducing a solid or coarse substance into pulp or minute grains, by crushing, grinding, or pressing. Windmills are common in Holland. If you want, you can purchase a 20 foot Aeration Windmill System on Amazon.com for $1,957.95.

Beyond these facts, the windmill has fabulous literary connotations. Perhaps you've heard of the English idiom "tilting at windmills." This expression is derived from an episode in Migues de Cervantes' seminal novel Don Quijote. In common parlance, "tilting at windmills" means attacking imaginary enemies, or fighting futile battles.

I chose to title my blog "Tilting at Windmills" for two reasons: (1) because the idea of 'fighting futile battles' (or the noble quest toward that which cannot ultimately be attained) seems to be telling of the human condition and (2) because Carleton College--the institution where I got my undergraduate degree--is partially powered by a windmill. (Technically I think it's a wind turbine, but it's the same principle really.)

Of course I've graduated from college now, and I no longer can observe the steady whomping of a windmill slicing the sky. But I still think that it's beautiful (and noble) to attempt impossible tasks, to reach beyond yourself, to express that which evades language. Although I often feel like the process of chasing the impossible crushes me into minute grains, I think it means something.

So, although I'm no longer in the wind-ridden Flat Place, perhaps the metaphor still stands.

Yesterday waiting to buy movie tickets--

Me: I can't get a student ticket anymore!! Weird... Dad, I'm unemployed!

Dad: No, you're not unemployed.

Me: What? I mean, my summer job is over. I don't have a job.

Dad: Yes, but in order to be unemployed you have to be actively seeking a job.

Me: Oh. What am I then, if I'm not unemployed?

Dad: A weasel.