Move over Chi-town; we're the 'Windy City'

Decades ago — and probably centuries in many cases — people started giving nicknames to cities. Some stuck, others went by the wayside.

Denver is often referred to as the “Mile High City,” New Orleans is noted as “The Big Easy” and Los Angeles has been dubbed the “City of Angels.” We even have some popular ones a little closer to home as Albuquerque is labeled “The Duke City” and Roswell is known as the “Alien Capital of the World.”

One of the U.S.’ most famous monikers rests on Chicago: “The Windy City.” Whomever came up with that nickname clearly has never been to Clovis, Portales and the surrounding communities.

The winds that “greeted” locals on Tuesday gusted between 55 and 65 mph. Take that Chicago and your meager breezes off that body of water separating you from Michigan. You might have the World Champion Cubs, but you don’t stand a chance in this throw down.

Don’t believe me?

Just ask the owners of the building at Seventh and Mitchell streets in Clovis near the Sonic Drive-In restaurant. The roof on their building looked like the remnants of an opened and discarded sardine can. Thank goodness it was unoccupied.

Not impressed? Then check in with Chip and Sheresa Lea. They’ve lived in Clovis about 15 years but they had their property and home nearly covered with tumbleweeds during the storm.

They called us at The Eastern New Mexico News and invited us out to see the resulting chaos. You can tell by the photos in Thursday’s edition that the pesky tumbleweeds nearly piled as high as their roofline and heaped in front of the main entrance to their home.

Then there’s the countless number of other people who saw large trees uprooted, part or all of their fences gusted over or shingles blown off their roofs and down the street. There were also innumerable accounts of people telling all who would listen on Facebook about how their trampoline or swing set was “relocated” in their — or a neighbor’s — front yard.

Besides the actual damage also came the simple inconveniences. The blowing dirt is never any fun for us contact lens wearers, and you better remember to keep a good hold on any documents that you’re carrying while outside, lest they end up several blocks away in a mere seconds.

Outdoor activities were postponed, including a Clovis High baseball doubleheader between the Wildcats’ junior varsity and Lovington. If anyone could have withstood sitting through the elements in that one, it might have been fun to watch a “routine” pop fly to the third baseman end up landing foul — next to first base.

So the next time you hear a newspaper or TV broadcast refer to the “Windy City,” know that they’re way off base. That’s our claim to fame — and we have the hard evidence to prove it.

Rob Langrell is the publisher of The Eastern New Mexico News. Contact him at: [email protected]