I was 9 years old and trying to bring a thin sheet of plywood panelling into the garage from the pickup bed. Suffice to say that it was a very windy day and I got thrown about 15 feet sideways off the tailgate! I marvelled at the power in that one gust.

Thus was born my fascination with tapping into nature's fury.

You might want to try making a savonius turbine for one of your experiments. The simplest way is to cut a 5 gallon plastic drum (kerosene containers from Walmart) right down the middle. For these small ones you can use some wood, bolts and thin steel rod without too much worry of it coming apart.