What Does vane Mean
A weather vane is an object that is installed on top of a building so that, when the wind blows , it can turn and indicate its direction . It is common for the weather vane to be in the shape of an animal, such as a rooster or a horse , although it can also be an arrow or something else.
Weather vanes, therefore, are devices that feature a pointer to reveal the direction of the wind. This marker is usually linked to a cross that shows the cardinal points. Thanks to its mechanism, the different pieces of the weather vane rotate when receiving the action of the wind, showing its direction.
In order for them to fulfill their function, the vanes must be installed as high as possible . In this way, trees and buildings are prevented from altering the actual direction of the wind. That is why weather vanes usually appear on the roofs of houses or on the terraces of buildings .
Although the origin of the weather vane is not exactly known, it is known that this instrument has been among human creations for more than two millennia; A clear example is found in the Roman Agora of Athens, built between 19 and 11 BC. C., where a rooster-shaped weathervane was placed.
By extension to this meaning, the term weather vane is also used to name a subject who often changes his thought, behavior or attitude frequently . As can be seen, this meaning works by analogy to the constant movement of a weather vane, which changes its position in the face of any wind.
Suppose a politician ran, in 1998 , as a candidate for president of the Liberal Party . Four years later, the same leader is running as a candidate for the Conservative Party . In 2006 , the same politician announced his incorporation to the Progressive Democratic Party . For all these changes in less than a decade, many analysts describe the man in question as a weather vane .
In Spain we find the Pico del Veleta , the fourth highest in the country and the second in its mountain range , only surpassed by Teide, in Tenerife, Mulhacén, in Sierra Nevada, and Aneto, in the Pyrenees. The Pico del Veleta rises to 3395.68 meters above sea level and is located in Granada, one of the most important Andalusian provinces at an international level, partly because it was the birthplace of one of the most significant poets in history. , Federico García Lorca, as well as the land in which they took his life in such a tragic and unfair way.
Despite what it may seem, the name of this peak does not refer to the aforementioned instrument to calculate the direction of the wind, but comes from the Arabic term balata , which can be defined as "balate, tajo, cut", and refers to to the marked cuts, some with slopes of up to 500 meters, which can be seen on three of its faces. In addition, it is important to understand that this word is masculine, unlike the previous one ( the Veleta).
Among the most interesting features of Pico del Veleta we find an area of permafrost with fossil ice that seems to come from 13,000 years ago, when the last ice age occurred. It is worth mentioning that permafrost areas are permanently frozen, although not always with ice or snow.
El Pico del Veleta is an ideal place for lovers of piste, extreme and cross-country skiing, hiking, climbing and mountaineering, thanks to having the highest slopes in the entire mountain range of Sierra Nevada, some areas of snow and other rock. In addition, every year a marathon is practiced at the beginning of August that ends in Puerto del Veleta.