Spring Castle

Linking up with Chrisy at Living a Good North Coast Life for Reconnecting with Nature.

On Monday we took a ride to one of the Tenneessee state parks - Rock Island State Park -  to check out the waterfalls and explore the trails.  Truthfully, we had a three day weekend and it rained for the first two days, so I had a little bit of cabin fever and went in search of something to do outside.  You can see that post here.  

One of the things that I found beautiful on that trip were these stairs.

I know they're manmade.  But they were built with materials that come from the earth, so they are rustic and appropriate and nature is claiming them back.  I love the way the moss has grown on them and the ivy climbs up the sides.  When I went to climb the stairs, I found them to be extremely uneven, but all of the stones were well-grounded.  

The stairs lead up to a spring house which was built in the 1890's.  The spring house is more of a spring castle, made of stone, and totally at home at the edge of the woods.  I think it's adorable.  You can't really see in this picture, but the stairs are to the right of the castle.

Back in the day, a spring house was built over a water source and used for refrigeration.  The constantly running, cool water would keep the house at a steady temperature, thus keeping food fresh.  In this case, the spring house was used for the workers at the cotton mill across the street.

A beautiful, peaceful place.  With a building built by man, but with a deep respect for the natural environment.