alone in the flour mill

just as we come into town there is a flour mill owned and operated by Deepak. Next to him is a little shop run by his wife. we used to frequent the mill often to get freshly ground flours, be it wheat, rice, millet, or diverse dals but since we purchased our own mill we don't do much business there anymore. but both shops open to the street where we pass to get to the market so we often say hello and chat if they are not busy.

i am sad to tell you that Deepak's wife was hospitalized and suffered some serious complications. the shops were closed for days but today we were happy to see Deepak back but this time in his wife's shop. she has mostly recovered so he got time to get back to work. while he was in the shop. the mill was open for people to drop off their grains which he would mill in the afternoon.

as i was waiting for my wife to finish her errands i dropped into the shop with my S22 to take some shots of the empty dimly lit mill. every time i had been there before there was a lot going on and that is always interesting but noisy. but here it was so wonderfully still.

now this place would never pass a health and safety inspection in the west and i realize that this may not be viewed favorably by many people.

but i love places like this. it is a form of living art and being alone here in tranquility was special

it has real soul that a modern industrial mill completely lacks. the machine belts hang next to the gurus

and a prayer is said daily before opening. that makes sense because there are safety concerns here, especially for anyone unfamiliar with the routine operation.

and while the electrical installation has held for many years it might be an idea to update it

but as there are no sparks i move on to focus on the equipment

the low light setting is perfect for these vintage machines

and it wouldn't surprise me if a little mouse suddenly appeared from under one the countless items on the floor

but that doesn't deter me from recommending this place to make fresh flour

and i mean same-day fresh. if you have never cooked with flour still warm from the friction of the stones you are missing out on a treat

but today's feast was for the eyes

And it stoned me to my soul. Stoned me just like goin' home

text from Van Morrison And It Stoned Me