Weekly Photo Challenge: Depth

Wooden sluice, Cades Cove TN

One of the joys of driving the 11-mile loop through Cades Cove in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park is stopping to watch the old mill wheel spin. Looking down the wooden sluice gives depth to the years-old process of funneling water down to the wheel.

Water turning the wheel in Cades Cove TN

As the outside wooden wheel turns, a heavy stone mill wheel inside grinds yellow corn into meal.  Or at least that’s how it used to be.

Water wheel, Cades Cove, TN

Deep thinking just occurs, I guess, when you stand and reflect on the way it was: Nature and man working hand-in-hand for another fine day of mountain living.

For more entries in the WordPress Weekly Photo Challenge: Depth, click here.

 

17 thoughts on “Weekly Photo Challenge: Depth

  1. Pingback: “Depth” Weekly Photo Challenge | The Bohemian Rock Star's "Untitled Project"

  2. Curt Mekemson

    My ancestors on my dads side were millers, first in Maryland in the 1770s and then in Kentucky in the 1790s. I’ve visited both sites. The sluice provided an excellent depth photo. –Curt

    1. Oh, the Places We See

      Thanks for the compliment, Curt. You were fortunate to have had millers — strong, sturdy, contemplative folk, or one would think. Did you inherit any mill wheels? I think that’s what you call the stone ones. They are fantastic in a garden.

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