Friends living in East and North Williamson County, Texas are no doubt aware that corn harvest time is here.   Thousands of acres are being whittled down by combines.   Even with rapid development in this area so close to Austin, farmers are getting the job done.   This past few evenings have been spent with farmers Shaun and Steven Raesz, brothers who took over the reins from their father, Arnold Raesz, not long ago.  They’re assisted by many helpers, among them cousin Cooper Raesz, 14.   Cooper is already an expert at navigating a tractor and grain collection bin.    The second farmer who has graciously allowed me to tag along is Aaron Martinka.    Aaron has plenty of help, too, including his brother Adam, his son Evan, 13, and “retired” farmer Larry Svehlak.   Like Cooper, Evan knows how to drive a tractor!   Shaun and Steven are harvesting 3,600 acres.   Aaron is harvesting 4,000 acres.  They’ll be busy for a while, working well into the night.   While each farmer produces a little sweet corn for family and friends, their main crop is utilized for poultry, livestock and deer feed.   Even with growth, farm equipment has to use our roads to travel from field to field.   Be considerate of what they do.  

A gentle horseback ride this evening in Taylor, Texas.   Folks do ride horses here.

As sunsets go, this one wasn’t bad.   A scene a few miles east of Granger, Texas.

The focus tonight are calves.   It’s a pretty simple theme, no long collection of words.    Sometimes subject matter falls into place.   Just three photographs tonight, friends.

Every photograph  is from daily walks this week was taken in Taylor.    These are small-town strolls.     You won’t see any rural landscapes during these outings.    And so far, the chosen tool for these photos is an inexpensive Olympus OM-D E-M10 equipped with a Panasonic Lumix zoom lens, 45-150 mm.   In the micro 4/3 world, that’s equivalent to a 90-300 mm.   It gets the job done.

One taken this evening,  a pastoral scene just west of Taylor.   It’s intriguing to find out there’s enough energy left after a busy few days.   We do what we can.

As usual with theater productions I’ll offer just a snippet here.  The rest are on my Facebook and Instagram (@andybobsharp) pages.   “Beautiful …. The Carole King Musical,” opens tonight at the Georgetown Palace, continuing through August 31st.  

Those tall stalks of corn are beginning to come down in our area.  Thousands of acres in Williamson, Travis, Bell and Milam Counties will transform the landscape as harvest season begins on the Blackland Prairie.   There might be more photographs later, but this scene from Wednesday evening was too nice to pass up.

Deer are abundant in our area.    It’s prudent to exercise caution.   They tend to wander out into the the road without much notice.   But they are elegant creatures, doing their best to survive in today’s world.   These are from three recent outings in Williamson County, Texas.

Just another windmill tonight.   This is one of dozens photographed in recent years.   They continue to inspire.