The Windmill

 

I've always had a love of windmills, just one of those things I was fascinated by when I was a kid.

A lot of my Mom's family lived in rural Georgia, some were farmers, and had windmills on their property. For those who have no clue as to what a windmill is, or does, let me explain.  Back in the day, folks had wells for their water supply. Some our relatives, as well as other country folk, didn't have electric pumps for their wells. Some of the family we regularly visited had wells with ropes and buckets to get their water.

Some had hand pumps.  My Great Aunt Lou and Uncle Frank at one time had a pump at the end of their porch, with a basin and big ladle near by. The big tin basin was for washing your hands, and the ladle was for drinking water.  Everyone shared.

Some of the more affluent folks had windmills to turn a pump which brought the water up from underground.

The pump filled a tank with the water. This was a great time and energy saver. 

Windmills were also popular for city folks, or I guess folks living closer to town, to have old windmills they had transported from the country onto their property for the aesthetic value of having a windmill in their yard. 

This windmill is alongside Georgia 96 where it has been standing for a while now.  Another thing I have often passed and thought "I need to shoot that puppy," and just drove on down the road. Yesterday the way the light hit the vanes really caught my eye.  I turned around and went back for the picture.  I played with it today and came up with this final image. My own aesthetic windmill.

Another thing from the past that is slowly going away.