Today's Review: Wind

Thanks, Google, for this succinct and relevant picture

It was a bit windy today, sunny but windy. It was also rubbish collection day in my neighbourhood, which resulted in several recycling bags and bits of cardboard being dragged away from outside their respective homes. Also, my hair got pretty ruffled. It was then that I thought to myself that wind is annoying.

Wind is a fantastic natural occurrence, a mass movement of molecules from a crowded place to a less crowded one, on a scale so large that it throws stuff all over the place. Waves come crashing down on seafaring ships, trees are knocked down in terrible storms, receipts that I've just dropped on the floor are moved playfully out of my reach. The last one affects me the most, obviously, as I've never been lost at sea or crushed by plant life. To me, wind is an annoyance, one that's claimed the lives of several umbrellas, and sometimes made it slightly more difficult to walk.

But wind does have its benefits. Without wind, some plant pollination would not occur, so we wouldn't be able to enjoy such wonderful plants as dandelions... and other weeds. But hey, without wind, we wouldn't be able to have wind power. Yes, wind can provide us with electricity, as long as we build gigantic windmills that look a bit ugly. But hey, sustainable power is good, right? As long as the wind decides to blow at a steady rate, which it invariably doesn't.

You see, wind is uncaring, and pretty cruel. It doesn't care if it sinks a few ships, or demolishes some houses. Wind can help spread wildfire, cause wind chill in sheep and cattle, an even causes erosion, because not even rocks can escape its wrath. I may find wind personally annoying, but in a lot of cases it's deadly. So no matter how many weeds are given the opportunity to breed, or how rad hang-gliding or windsurfing may be, wind is a generally bad thing to have around. Especially when it blows those receipts away from me. I mean honestly, it feels like it's just toying with me.

My rating: 1/5