After completing another assignment tonight, I took a few minutes to visit the moon, now almost-full, a harvest moon, I think. The photos are taken through the street lights at Taylor’s Heritage Square Park. And there’s just one tight shot of the moon by itself, too. Enjoy the view in your area.
One of my favorite assignments early on at the Atlanta Journal & Constitution was a dawn wedding in Skunk’s Holler, Georgia, nestled in the North Georgia mountains, about two hours north of Atlanta. The wedding, on a picturesque bridge, was followed by the couple departing in a hot air balloon. The happy couple were married in old-fashioned attire. The story was written by Bob Dart, one of my favorite writers. Bob could write slice-of-life stories that complemented my style and philosophy of photojournalism. The last photo in this post is Bob chatting with his sleepy daughter at the wedding. Bob and I worked a few good stories together before Cox Newspapers moved him to the Washington bureau, for stories deemed more “important.” I felt that was a mistake for Bob, who is, sadly, no longer with us. He was one of the best.
Driving around tonight, I had something else in mind, but after turning the car toward home, I remembered this vacant house sitting at the edge of a field. This was well beyond sundown, maybe 40 minutes beyond. I don’t know how long this place has been empty, but my wife and I think it looks like it belongs on a beach somewhere. In a sense, it’s near an ocean …. a land ocean called the Blackland Prairie, adorned with good, sweet light.
The first photo is one I shot Monday night while meandering through downtown Taylor, Texas. The moon is growing this week, making its way to full moon status by Friday, but the weather may turn cloudy and we won’t see it then. So here it is. The light was shining through a colorful window as I strolled along Main Street. By day, the old structure is home to a business, but at night? I think it may be a residence, one with a nice window. The other two photos were taken last evening, as clouds played peek-a-boo with the moon’s surface. I do enjoy documenting this lunar beauty. And downtown Taylor, too.
Like most small towns in Texas, and the South, for that matter, Taylor loves its football. My little town of 15,000 has a venerable stadium, set not at a school, but in a neighborhood. Though smaller, Taylor’s geographic location reminds me of growing up in Texarkana, Texas. Our football stadium, Tiger Stadium, was in my neighborhood, too, less than two blocks away. During my time working at the Atlanta Journal & Constitution, I covered many prep games at another neighborhood stadium, in Marietta. I really didn’t like that field. The sidelines were shallow, making us photographers always keenly on guard. The local folks, however, loved it. As James “Friday” Richards, former head coach at Marietta High told me one time, “It’s tradition.” So it is. This photo, by the way, was taken tonight, a Tuesday after 8th grade boys teams had finished playing a scrimmage. Alas, the Taylor boys lost, 8-0. Go little Ducks.
Let’s keep words minimal here. Tonight’s skies were heavenly on the Blackland Prairie. But here’s the thing…it’s East Williamson County, Texas. I’d expect no less.
The end of a very long day was close to home, as I attended Taylor’s annual Patriot Day observance, held in remembrance of September 11, 2001. Each year since the tragedies in New York, Pennsylvania and at the Pentagon, the City of Taylor has set aside the evening of September 11 for this commemoration. It is sweet, elegant and respectful. My little town, while not always to my liking, does justice to this.
This morning, before sunrise, I left for Georgetown, to once again cover their Memorial Stair Climb held at the high school stadium. On this, the 15th anniversary of 9/11, first responders in the area, including a few civilians this time, walked up and down the stadium’s steps in commemoration of that sad day. Many of those taking part are firefighters, who trudged up and down toting full gear, not unlike the emergency service personnel in New York did on September 11, 2001. That amounts to about 60-pounds, according to Georgetown’s Fire Chief, John Sullivan. Participants this morning took 1,980 steps each, the equivalent of the 110-story World Trade Center towers. The first photo below was a bit before dawn, as Battalion Chief Carl Boatright got his gear ready to carry. 
This post is an assortment of things that have found their way in front of my lenses since yesterday evening. There is no theme, just documentation. Last night, one of my wanderings meandered past a field of cotton. I’m not sure it’s a good year for cotton. Farmers are saying there’s been too much rain. The stuff, I’m hearing, is a bit soggy. We’ll see. Speaking of soggy, this morning I was at Taylor Regional Park for the City of Taylor’s annual Kite Day. One little fellow and his dad made it onto the field, but then the bottom dropped out, resulting in postponement of the event. A little girl waits with her her daddy, her kite, and her spool of twine, hoping that rain would stop. It did, but not soon enough. The last one? Well, it’s some sweet canines, on a stroll with their mommy and a friend, also this morning in Taylor. They got caught in that rain, but found a dry place to wait it out. When I saw them, the walk was almost done. Apologies to any similarity to Elliott Erwitt images.
Yesterday, while in Georgetown, I decided to stop by Blue Hole Lagoon, just a bit north of the town square. Over the summer, this popular spot was packed with humanity. Now that school is back in session, I wanted a sense of it in late-day light. With tripod in hand, I watched the sun drop below the horizon, taking shots of the waterfall, the granite face on its north side, etc. As I was preparing to pack it in, a couple young fellows, one toting a camera and tripod, were enjoying the scenery, too. Then the one without a camera walked out onto the waterfall, toting what appeared to be a leash, but sans pooch. On land, the friend with the camera gave an “okay” signal. The next I knew, the night was filled with more amazing light as the waterfall fellow lit something attached to the leash and commenced to twirl it round and round. It was like a gigantic sparkler! With my own camera tripod-mounted, I snapped the shutter, too, a 20-30-second exposure. The photographer showed me some of his other photos. I was impressed. And I don’t impress easily. The “torch” they were carrying? It’s comprised of a steel wool pad (think Brillo), but the kind without soap, a cooking whisk and yes, a dog’s leash. The steel wool is placed into the whisk, attached to the leash, and viola! You have yourself a huge sparkler! It wasn’t so much on fire as just sparkling. And they were on water. My guess is it’s a pretty safe thing to try. I enjoyed the diversion. And I also enjoy the lagoon, sans sparklers. Just a nice, peaceful place, very very blue at this late hour. It’s a good name.
