Looking Up

I don't have a weathervane nor do I have any idea what direction the wind is coming from as I write this.  However, if I wet my finger and hold it up into the air, it seems like the wind is coming from the fan on the east side of the bedroom.  What does this have to do with anything?  Nothing, except I've been taking note of the weathervanes along the Ausable.

Last month, my book group met at the Jay Village Green and as the ladies were talking about the book I did not finish, I found myself looking up at the gazebo and the weathervane on top.

 A Blue Jay seems fitting for the town of Jay.

It made me recall seeing a weathervane at Whiteface when I was skiing down Boreen last winter.  Mental note: If you are not looking for weathervanes you might ski faster.  I drove to Whiteface to see if I remembered correctly and as it turns out, not only do they have one, but there are three!

 Skier

Snowcat

Snowmaker

If you start looking up more, you will find them, but they're not all unique.  Mostly you'll see roosters.  Apparently, a weathervane is also referred to as a weathercock. Thus, the cockerel design.  Other common designs are feathers, arrows and horses.  

A mountaineer and luge weathervane are definitely unique.  If my memory serves me correctly, you can see them at the Mountaineer and at USA Luge.  

Another unusual design that I remember a friend mentioning awhile back was that of some elf shoes perched above the Comfort Inn next to Howard Johnson's in Lake Placid.

If you look closely, you can see that the shoes used to belong to someone standing on a feather that should have been running to safety at the first sign of heavy winds from the North.  What that figure was, I have no idea because it must have shattered when it was struck by lightning.