The Winter Solstice arrived at 3:21 a.m. Central Time.  It was a morning when I was up quite early, en route from Taylor to Georgetown for an assignment.  About fifteen minutes before sunrise, when the first photograph was made, the temperature was 30 degrees,  mist hovering over a pond.   Venturing on, I neared the San Gabriel River as it meandered  through Georgetown.   The other three photos were taken near the river,  all about ten-fifteen minutes after sunrise.    Early mornings like this are worth embracing.

Although the  Winter Solstice arrives at 3:21a.m. Central Time on Saturday, we still have tidbits of color making themselves known in Taylor, Texas.   This batch of photographs are from daily walks this week.    Tonight’s low here is predicted to be 31 degrees Fahrenheit.   Bit by bit, our Texas wind is blowing leaves off the trees.   Suggested before, but look for photographs close to home.   Travel when possible, but keep in touch with your neck of the woods.  

Driving through Granger this evening, I was glad to see the return of a Christmas tree made entirely of cotton grown by area farmers.    Last year, because the cotton crop was decimated by drought and heat, we didn’t get to see one, but good 2024  crop yields helped bring it back.  It’s a unique tree highlighting small-town Texas.

From a Wednesday night  stroll around the Georgetown square.  Traffic was heavy, but it was a good evening to be outside.   It’s billed as “The Most Beautiful Town Square in Texas.”   I would agree.

Two churches, Christ Lutheran Church in Noack, and Prince of Peace Lutheran Church in Wuthrich Hill, are joined by a photograph taken at Granger Lake.   The lake has nothing to do with the churches, but I like the scene.  The view was cut short by oncoming traffic.  Growth has its drawbacks.

These four photographs were taken Sunday.    The bits of autumn color we have here usually come later.   A good cold wind and rain usually disposes of them quickly.   The leaves in the opening photo were mostly gone when I drove by there this afternoon.  I’m guessing the trees in the last couple are history.    But stay tuned because I’m still seeing snippets of color in our city parks.   More from there at week’s end.  

As the area where we live around Taylor gets hammered by development, I sometimes cast a net into surrounding counties.   This evening it was Milam County.  Driving north of Thorndale near sunset, I remembered a peaceful country road leading to St. John’s Lutheran Cemetery.   German immigrants in the Detmold community established a church and cemetery here in 1900.   The first known burial, in 1903, was Gottfried Eschberger.  The cemetery is a final resting place for more than 175 residents.   In 1963, St. John’s Lutheran Church relocated to Thorndale, but the cemetery remains at  this impeccable  site on the Blackland Prairie.   Since the road leading to the cemetery offered a windmill, it’s included in this post.   As most know, I’m fond of windmills.   If you don’t cotton to them, you’re barking up the wrong visual tree.

In recent years, the only Live Nativity I document is the one at Taylor’s Immanuel Lutheran Church, held the second weekend in December. The church was formed in 1888.   It’s quite an undertaking.   While the Nativity is  held at Immanuel, it’s made possible by members of eighteen area churches coming together.     Their first one was in 2008.    I’ve been at each one since 2009, the year we returned to Texas.    These photographs were taken Saturday evening.   It was a pleasant surprise to see a full moon shining over the church, appearing when it was high in the sky, a bright spot in  otherwise cloudy skies.  A second night is underway as this is written.   If you’re in Central Texas, put this on your calendar for next year.   You’ll be enthralled.

Much of this morning was spent at the Georgetown Public Safety headquarters for the annual police department gift distribution of gift boxes for 2,660 kids.  Blue Santa makes it possible for families to have gifts for children who might not otherwise have something under the tree.   You’ll always find a lot of volunteers (and police officers) there to make it all come together.   The police chief is the fellow embracing a 6-year-old dressed as Elsa, from the movie “Frozen.”   Her mom is an Assistant City Attorney who works closely with the police department.   Blue Santa is a wonderful offering to area families.

That livestock show kept me on my toes all week, but I managed to get in a few photographs from daily strolls around Taylor.   Things seen from Monday to Friday, all with a small Olympus camera. We still have autumn color here.