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.

Mentioned in passing before, but when I was 12-years-old my father gave me my first driving lesson.  The venue was Pine Crest Cemetery, a huge burial place in Atlanta, Texas.   The car was a 1952 Chevy, three-speed on the column.   “Everything’s dead here, Andy, you can’t hurt anyone.”   And thus I learned to drive on the extensive network of roads coursing through the cemetery.   My paternal grandfather, Robert Andrew Sharp, who died in 1925, was buried here.   My full name is Robert Andrew Sharp III.   The original Robert Andrew Sharp was born in Bonham, Texas in 1888.   When seeking work in the 1920s, he moved the family to Long Beach, California, where he worked in the oil fields there.   In April 1925 he was killed when the car he  was in was struck by a freight train.   The family returned to Atlanta, Texas.   My daddy, only 2, when my grandfather died, was born in Long Beach.   People get back to Texas.   Apologies for the long missive, but I still find cemeteries fascinating.   This one is a gem.   And a fine place to learn how to drive.

The corn landscapes dominate our area this summer, but corn harvest will be here very soon.

Quiet time in Taylor.   I see no need for more words.  

After a week off for a long road trip, the daily walks returned in Taylor this week.   A squirrel is tossed into the mix this time.   They’re photographed a bunch, but not always posted.   A decrepit kitten survives another day.   A  friend’s Peace creation inspires.   It’s been a very hectic week.   We do what we can.

Pet adoptions aren’t something I generally post, but will do so tonight.   A bit of background.   The Williamson County Regional Animal Shelter merged with the Georgetown Animal Shelter this week.  The Georgetown shelter is now called the Red Poppy Adoptique, where only dogs are available for adoption.  The larger county shelter will house our feline friends.  This weekend, to commemorate the merger, a free adoption event was held.  My time was devoted to the Red Poppy Adoptique.  The theme was “meet your superheroes”   The shelter brought in actors dressed as Superman and Superwoman.   Initially I did not photograph the actors, thinking it would take away from the dogs looking for new homes.   Then Superman entered an enclosure and commenced to cuddle with a 2-month-old dog named Dottie.   Superman went off script, staying with Dottie for quite a while.  I suggested they made a good team.   Note the chihuahua.   They call her Holly, about 10-years-old.   Holly was rescued from recent Central Texas flooding in the Leander area.   She’s safe now, but misses her humans.   I’m glad Holly was found.  Maybe she’ll reunite with her humans.

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It’s been a hard few weeks in Central Texas.

Covering a rodeo can be taxing if you’re doing it in a photojournalistic sense.  Simply put, working journalists gather information on what they’re photographing.   At times I think it would be fun to just snap away without regard to who’s in the photos.  We gather information, not just snaps.   Thursday night the cameras were at the Williamson County Expo Center for the first evening of the 75th Annual Taylor Rodeo, coordinated by the Taylor Rodeo Association.   Most of these are self-explanatory, the evening concluding with a beautiful herd of horses galloping around the arena.   If you don’t live in our area, know that last one is of Irene Michna, a rodeo fan who would’ve been sitting at that bleacher seat last night if she hadn’t left us this week.   Hopefully, that photo will remain right there for the next two nights of rodeo.  Irene was a fine lady.