A few weeks ago, while making my way north on the Blackland Prairie, I noticed the southbound evening Amtrak train, the Texas Eagle, as it made its way toward Taylor, continuing to Austin and San Antonio.  The early-evening light seemed to glow on the train cars as it made its way past our planted fields.  I wanted to somehow relate to site visitors what I saw, but it hasn’t been easy.  While Amtrak may have a specific arrival time in mind at various towns, diversions get in the way.  While I didn’t get what I was looking for, this image, made Wednesday evening, comes close as the train zoomed along the tracks past a field of very healthy cotton.   Trains and crops are wonderful subjects.  Sometimes they coexist.

Most of my day was spent photographing the July 4th celebration at San Gabriel Park in Georgetown, Texas.   The annual happening is sponsored by the Georgetown Sertoma Club.  It  includes a hometown parade through the park, music, plenty of food and drink, topped off by a fireworks show which I’m not covering this year.  After this long day, that’s a good thing, too.   These photos were made for my friends at the Williamson County Sun.

Ten years ago this summer we came home.    Among the first things I saw were an expansive network of fields on the the Blackland Prairie.  If memory serves, I was on a bike ride when I saw it.    After 29 years in Atlanta, Georgia, a massive metropolis spreading development, smog, power lines, strip shopping centers and cars in every direction, this site let me know I was home.  It might not qualify as beautiful to some of you, but it is to me.  Note that I grew up in the Piney Woods of Northeast Texas.   We had plenty of trees there, after Atlanta’s closed-in feeling this was nice.   It makes me think of a favorite song, “I Can See for Miles and Miles” by The Who.   This view was taken last night as warm light after a rain shower left us with this.   Our area is rapidly-developing, too, but thankfully there are bits of land like this to remind us it’s  not swallowed up yet.

We had a pretty good little dousing of rain in East Williamson County and Georgetown this afternoon.   While it didn’t last long, it did leave us with some mighty pretty rainbows.   They began to form as I was leaving Taylor for Georgetown.  The rain followed me on the drive west, ending with a good scene along Main Street on the Georgetown square.

A couple of photos from tonight, friends.  As sunset snuck up on me, I wanted to record what I saw, but had to respond quickly.  Sunsets don’t last long.  The second photo was on the way home,  along a dirt road well past sundown on the Blackland Prairie.

If we had maize where I grew up in Northeast Texas, I have no memory of it.   I sure don’t recall seeing it in my Georgia years, but that might have more to do with the fact that we lived in metro-Atlanta.   Maybe it was well-established in South Georgia?    At any rate, since coming back to Texas ten years ago, maize has been an exceptionally-pretty crop.  I do know that maize is part of the family that we call corn.  Our Central Texas corn is mainly used for livestock feed.  Apparently so is maize.   Maize is also used to produce grain sorghum and is used in corn starch.   All that aside, I just think it’s visually-stimulating.  This one’s from earlier tonight near the Bell/Williamson County line.

After many years in Georgetown, the Williamson County Sheriff’s Posse Rodeo has moved north, to Jarrell, Texas.   The venerable arena at San Gabriel Park has been on life support for a while.  The rodeo had to find a new home.   Thanks to the generosity of the Micheux family in Salado, the rodeo has  twenty acres of prime land in Jarrell.   The first of this year’s  two rodeos  was held last evening.   These images were taken then.   The second session is tonight..  As always when covering rodeo, I aim for the culture of the event, not the sports action.  Oh,there’s plenty of that, but it’s much more.  I particularly like to cover Mutton Bustin’.   Those kids and their sheep are a hoot!  Children in general always seem to love the rodeo.  Much of this post will (hopefully) get that message across.

While pursuing another photo idea last evening,  the western sky hinted at an approaching storm.   Neither the photo idea nor the storm materialized, but exceptionally-pretty light graced planted fields south of Granger, Texas.  When one thing doesn’t pan out, nature gives us an alternative.  

When visiting Taylor’s Bull Branch Park this week, I’d planned to take photos of the creek and the park’s pond, always good places to point a camera.  Then I met an adorable and cuddly (really!) Bearded Dragon called Lizzie having fun with her little human, 7-year-old Sage, joined by Sage’s mom.   Lizzie, now 4, has been with the family since she was a baby.  At home, she dines on grass, bugs and grasshoppers, all under Sage’s love and guidance.  Classified as a reptile, which might sound scary to some, Lizzie is gentle as a kitten.  “Would you like to pet her?” asked Sage.  I happily took him up on the offer.    When not playing with Lizzie, Sage has his own YouTube channel, Sage’s Universe, where he reviews toys.  Sometimes Lizzie makes appearances.   This is one of those little slices-of-life things that make community photojournalism an important part of my work.  

Much to juggle tonight, friends so posting two completely-unrelated photos, the first a bridge study near sunset, and from tonight, a mom and her family at a Taylor park.   We love our duck families here.