For several years I’ve driven past the long-closed cotton gin in Walburg, but didn’t stop.   No Trespassing signs let me know this was off limits.   Just last week, however, while covering the Hamburger Fundraiser at St. Peter Lutheran Church, I’d learned from an attendee that the gin had been sold to a young couple in Georgetown.   The lady at the fundraiser, who lives near the gin, knew the names of the new owners.   After some texts and emails, the couple gave me a thumbs up for photos.  When arriving, I was glad to see the couple, along with some interested friends.  Wisely, we all wore boots and long pants! The new owners had already cleared years of brush and trees from the property, making it much more visible.   They found out the gin first opened in the early-1930s, continuing to operate into the 1980s.   For years it remained vacant, but was used for scenes in one of the “Texas Chainsaw Massacre” remakes.   The structure is beautiful inside and out.  Ornamental iron steps lead to the second floor.  The owners haven’t formulated a plan for its future, but they hope let it remain, perhaps as an event venue.   It’s nice to see a place imbedded in significant history stay for future generations to see.  If you read the Williamson County Sun this weekend, you’ll find a small story.   I don’t name the owners here,  or on social media, but they’re identified in the newspaper.   Best of luck to them!

The exploration of barns continues with three examples tonight.   As the daylight hours lengthen this type of photo becomes more difficult to make unless I choose to stay out until bedtime.

It’s been a while since my last visit with these beautiful horses in Norman’s Crossing.  As with many posts, this was a spur of the moment session.  The light was working its magic on this evening, bringing out the character of these sweet babies.   Next time I’ll remember to bring them some carrots.  They are exquisite beings. 

While those large sunflowers seen at times are nice, I enjoy seeing the smaller sunflowers adorning the roads and pastures in our area.   One of the best things about summer is seeing these happy flowers, one of the few things that make this oppressive heat worthwhile.

You’ll seldom see a post with few words, but you will tonight.   Cow eyes. 

Saturday afternoon I stopped by Walburg’s St. Peter Lutheran Church for their Hamburger Fundraiser, held to raise money for needed work on the church parsonage.   Since this was their  first fundraiser, I hadn’t expected  a crowd, but was pleasantly surprised  by the turnout.   The pastor, Philip Daniels, was helping flip juicy burgers on the grill.   Inside the church’s education  building, volunteers were serving up plates for diners.  Dessert choices, all made by church members, were plentiful.  The walls were adorned with quilts made by church members who meet a couple of times a month here to create them.   Numerous items were for sale, delighting both adults and children.

Photos taken during a morning walk in Taylor on Friday.   Most of my walk photos focus on detailed offerings.    I enjoy seeing what light can do.  

It’s not really the color of a strawberry, but I’ll go along with the naming convention this evening.   This is tonight’s Strawberry Moon,  shining over a farm just outside Taylor.   For almost every full moon, I see  photos where the moon is presented as something incredibly huge in the frame.   My preference, as with this one tonight, is to show how the moon relates to the landscape, and to how you see it with your own eyes.    This is a farm on the Blackland Prairie.

The evening hunt wasn’t going so well on this first day of summer, but about twenty or so minutes before sunset the clouds and sky came together nicely a little south of Granger.   You can barely make out the rainbow in a couple, but in the end I just focused on that golden windmill.  

A few years ago, before nearby light pollution took hold, I spent an entire night on this truss bridge in anticipation of a meteor shower.   I didn’t get the desired photograph, but it was otherwise pleasant to rest above the San Gabriel River.

The Rowe Valley Bridge, also called the Easley Bridge, is along County Road 366, just south of Texas 29.  Built in 1909, it  sustained tremendous damage during the 1921 floods.  By 1930, a group of citizens had revitalized it, raising its base by four feet.   It closed in the early-1980s when a more secure concrete bridge replaced it.

The old bridge remains.   Through the years it’s been  a photographic destination for many couples and individuals.   It’s also been harmed by graffiti and other bits of vandalism.  Trees and shrubs continue to latch onto its metal beams.  The wooden floor has several missing pieces.   Spiders spin their webs around the steel.   Some might consider it an eyesore.   I do not.

Last week concerned nearby residents began hearing word that the bridge may be coming down.   So far, that’s not been established.

I’d love to see the county give this bridge some love.   It’s played an important role in the history of the Blackland Prairie.  It would sad to lose this bit of living history.