82 NEBRASKAland • JUNE 2017
W
hy are windmills so often photographed? Perhaps it is a reminder of the past that still seems to carry such an
important purpose in the present. Or perhaps it's simply the way that late afternoon light shines from its blades.
Regardless of the reason, I am not alone with my thoughts on this photo subject.
At NEBRASKAland Magazine, we have a cloud-based photo database that houses thousands of images. From
flora to fauna, landscapes to close-ups, our staff does its best to photograph everything it can throughout the state
to encourage you to spend time outdoors.
The other day, while searching my own images, I saw this windmill photograph taken somewhere on the Nebraska/South
Dakota line last summer while tubing on the nearby Niobrara River with friends. This picture was taken on one of my early-
morning drives when everyone else was still sleeping.
I stopped to photograph it for no other reason than it was a windmill. And windmills, for some reason, need to be
photographed, as proven by the 500-plus images of them stored in the NEBRASKAland online photo library.
On this day, I added a few more, including verticals and horizontals for good measure.
Upon further observation, I saw that the place where this particular windmill was manufactured was in San Angelo, Texas.
It was in this small west Texas town that my wife and I first lived right out of college, where I was
trying to cut it as a writer with the hopes of one day having a life-long career combining my two most
important passions – writing and the outdoors.
And once again I realized why people perhaps photograph windmills so much: They remain a
reminder of the past – regardless of what that link might be – that continue to carry an important
purpose in the present.
Jeff Kurrus
April 9, 2017
The Past and Present of Windmills
