Lubbock’s Famous Windy Man Being Installed at Mae Simmons Park

A copy of the Windy Man is being installed at a sculpture garden in Mae Simmons Park.

I was alerted by a couple of friends that a new Windy Man panel is being put up at this park. The first thing I did was drive down and make sure that the other Windy Man is still intact across from the Buddy Holly Hall, and it is.

So let's talk about Windy Man again. Windy Man was supposed to be a whimsical addition to the highways around Lubbock as a special surprise from our friends at the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT). Instead, some religious whack-a-doodles got it into their minds that it was a "graven image" and some terrorist/vandal broke it one up. This led to TxDOT discontinuing the idea -- except on one overpass that made it near impossible to reach.

So, let me take a deep breath and explain this to the nutcases out there. Technically, a garden gnome is a graven image. Technically, a cement bird in a birdbath is a graven image. I guess I could go on and on, but I'm sure they're already dead-set on being Vandals for Christ (which, if you're in the market for a good band name, then have at it).

It does concern me that this current panel seems to be at a level where the kooks can get to it. I hope the folks at Mae Simmons have a nice security cam pointed at this sculpture.

It's just a nice, fun figure, and until you see witches sacrificing black goats in front of it, it should be left alone and remembered as a dark spot in Lubbock's history that we don't want to revisit.