How to see a puff:



Find a high point overlooking your favorite body of water (eg Jordan lake?) observe the colors and textures of the water. In calm, windless condition, the surface will be glassy. As the wind picks up, tiny wavelets form a texture on the surface of the water. The more texture water has, the deeper blue it appears. So from your observation post you'll see lighter and darker areas of water--the darker areas have more texture to the surface, caused by more breeze in that spot. As the breeze increases further, waves begin to form. Waves have more texture than wavelets, so areas of waves look a shade darker still.



At any given time, a lake will have a baseline wind condition creating a baseline texture to the surface and a baseline color. Simply put, a puff is visible where the water looks a bit darker than the baseline because there's more texture in that spot.



After a little observation, you'll have that "ah-ha" moment.



When you're sailing, it's helpful to know which direction puffs are coming from. Look to windward to see'em coming. Actually, puffs descend from the sky and, on hitting the water, fan out in a, well, fan-shaped pattern. But the general flow is with the main wind direction. (Note that all bets are off sailing under big, black clouds, where the wind can suddenly change 180 degrees right before your sails.)



Bit long-winded, but hope it helps.



By the way, most of us start getting excited rather than nervous as the wind picks up to 10-15 mph. But it takes building up to. Like driving, you don't head out on the autobahn the first time. Consider capsizing intentionally with your wife in a "controlled" situation to help get more comfortable.