Now that I’m back to working in a 32-story building, I am reminded daily of the wind tunnels that occur outside and between tall buildings.  As soon as you get near the main entrance, the wind picks up briskly.  Thankfully I don’t wear kilts often to work; otherwise people would see my “naughtywear” as I approach the front door.  When you exit the building, you’re greeted by a wall of wind that extends to maybe 50 feet outside the building and if you’re a small child or midget, there’s a good chance you could become airborne.  Once you’re outside of that buffer zone, all of a sudden you’re returned to normal wind conditions.

For anyone who has worked or walked in a downtown area where there are tall buildings, you’ll be walking and then all of a sudden – WHOOSH – you’re almost swept off your feet sometimes.  When I lived near Lake Shore Drive and Waveland Avenue in Chicago, which is right off the lake, we had a wind tunnel that was unbelievably strong at times.  Add the wind blowing off the lake, then funnel it between a 57-story building on one side and a 4 story condo complex on the left, and it was a chore to walk forward on some days.  There was a spot on Waveland that I knew the wind tunnel began and once you enter that area, you’d burn extra calories simply by making forward progress.

I recall one blustery day where the wind was in excess of 40 mph off the lake.  As I entered the Danger Zone, my torso was leaning forward as though I was in a tropical storm and I had to summon extra thigh power to continue my forward progress.  What made me remember this particular day is I saw a poor sparrow try on multiple attempts to fly forward.  He would get up about 2 or 3 feet in the air, flap its wings furiously, and get blown back another 5 feet.  He eventually got the hint from Mother Nature and flew away from the lake, heading west.