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Thanks so much for all the suggestions.  I think I have gotten the idea and will be better equipped when I wind on my next warp. 

I hope I don't hurt my wife's feelings when I tell her I don't need her to help me next time :-)

I make a noose around the neck of a water bottle, then use a clip-type clothespin to clip the water weight to the warp bout.

It's quick and easy to release and reposition as the water bottles rise and approach the front beam while winding. (I have a photo someplace, but of course cannot find it at the moment!)

Before the water weight method, I placed a stack of heavy books ontop of the warp, on the floor. As the warp wound on, the books were dragged toward the loom. This works if 1) you have a decent distance open in front of your loom, 2) your floor is clean.

In my studio, I have set loops of rope from the rafters above each of my looms for attachment of a large wooden roller.  The warp goes from the warp beam through the raddle, over the roller, and down to the floor.  I wind it on until the jug of water gets to the roller, stop, repsition the jug, and continue.  Peggy Osterkamp goes into this in her book on warping with a trapeze.  This is also called a warp valet.  I have used the top horizontal beam as a trapeze.  My small loom in the house has no attachment points for the roller, so the warp goes over the castle, and is attached to a kettle full of water, and dragged across the floor.  In both versions, the warp remains chained on the floor and is unchained as it is wound on.  It may seem tedious to wind on in steps like this in order to mainain tension, but I very much dislike a fussy warp; once it's on I like to work through it without interruption.