Approximately 30 members of Come And Take It  held their Open Carry Freedom Walk this past weekend on a misty Saturday afternoon in Taylor, Texas.    In the upcoming 84th Texas legislature, members are pushing for passage of House bill 195, which can be read here.  Rather than present a personal thought on the matter, I’ll let you draw your own conclusions.    My task was to document Saturday’s happenings.    I will say, however, they were polite and used good judgement when, at the end of their 2-hour walk, they retired to a local restaurant, but without their guns.

On this 2014 Veterans Day, the weather decided to do an about-face, with temperatures plummeting throughout the morning.  That didn’t deter a hearty Central Texas crowd from showing up for the annual observance at Georgetown-Williamson County Veterans Memorial Plaza,  in Sun City.   The seats were filled as veterans, past and present, were given the respect they’ve earned.   One veteran, 39-year-old Chris Powell, an Army Ranger who lost both legs during his time in Afghanistan in 2011, was there, too.  What he didn’t know was that a local home builder, Pulte Homes, was there to present him with a new home, free of charge. It was a good day, even a time for lightheartedness, when, at the end of the ceremonies, two Korean War veterans were slowly making their way along, with their cane and walker at the ready.  As they continued, 84-year-old Gerald Allen Wilcomb (on the right), turned to 81-year-old Robert Dickey, and said, with more than a hint of whimsey, “I’ll race you, old fellow!”   Yes, it was a good day.  These photos were taken for the Williamson County Sun.

The City of Georgetown’s Municipal Airport was the scene again for this year’s Airfest.   This year, the day began very early, before dawn, the time when hot air balloonists find the skies to their liking.   If the winds are over 10 miles per hour, they usually don’t launch.  Thankfully, as dawn approached, we were a sedate 5 miles per hour.   Three young ladies and their family were on the scene to watch the liftoff, but still in their pajamas.   Smart girls they were!   Once the balloons made their ascent, I took in more of the Airfest  fun as youngsters, like 16-year-old Angie Cox, had the chance to take free flights, courtesy of Chapter 187 of the Experimental Aircraft Association.  Angie had a great experience with pilot Chip Cotton, who took her up in his beautiful biplane.  Then, of course, there were the static aircraft displays for everyone to enjoy.   For auto enthusiasts, vintage cars were there to see, too.   Saturday was quite a long day, but a rewarding one.   These photos were taken for the Williamson County Sun.

For an authentic slice of Texas culture, few things can top the annual Wurstbraten fundraiser, conducted by Walburg’s Zion Lutheran Church and School.  The event, held the first week in November each year, is steeped in the German tradition of the area.  The gymnasium is always full of diners, enjoying their good vegetables, of course, but the big ticket item is the homeade sausage, painstakingly prepared in the smoky pits behind the church.   Those pits are where I tend to gravitate each time I visit.   As mentioned before, I wish there was a method in the electronic world to relate the intense aroma wafting from those old pits.   This year’s Wurstbraten prepared and served 12,500 pounds of sausage.  The Farm to Market road leading to the church is always packed with hungry patrons.   For those not wishing to dine inside, to-go plates were readily available.   Two of those went home in my car this year.   We don’t eat a lot of read meat, but when we do, it has to be top-notch.   That’s never a problem at Wurstbraten!   These photos were taken for my friends at the Williamson County Sun.

When I was growing up in Texarkana, we were fortunate to have three large pecan trees gracing our front yard.   Year after year, the trees served us well.   One year, the trees developed some sort of tree ailment and daddy hired a “tree doctor” for them.   The treatment was successful, giving us more good yields in the years that followed.   In present-day Central Texas, we don’t have these great trees at our home, but not far away, Berry Springs Park & Preserve, just east of Georgetown, is covered with these wonderful trees.   Throughout the year, the grove is of course resplendent to see, but when Autumn rolls in, it’s time for pecans!   It’s a good season this time around.   As long as they don’t climb them, park visitors are welcome to collect these nutty delights.   I was there a few days ago to take in the action.   The collection techniques were interesting.   Some use a stick of sorts, used specifically to grab the nuts.  If limbs are low-hanging, others jump or get on their tip toes for their treats.    And one young 11-year-old, who pitches in little league, was pretty good at aiming his pitches in just the right places.   It’s making me wish for  a nice pecan pie!

The photos with this post are from a Halloween Carnival held by  Georgetown Parks & Recreation (the first four you see), the rest  from Halloween night in the historic section of Main Street, also known as Old Town to the locals.  The Main Street residents go all out, attracting families from not only this neighborhood, but all over.   And, to my surprise a couple of years back, they seem to love have us news folks around with our cameras.   It’s a welcoming feeling.   Rather than ramble on here, I’ll let the photos do the work.   These were taken for my buddies at the Williamson County Sun.

The Williamson County Show Barn was home last weekend to the Texas Bulldogge Derby, a competition specifically for the various types of bulldogs out there.  Note that the spelling for the event is correct, in that it refers to a specific breed, written as Olde English Bulldogge.  There were those, but also American bulldogs and a Mammoth bulldog, a type that has a longer, fluffier coat, like the little copper-colored  guy shown in this post, 3-month-old Ewok, being held by his owner, Kim Evans.    At home, we have Star, a Staffordshire terrier, a type of Pit bulldog.   Despite a sometimes unsavory reputation in the canine family, these dogs were loved and well treated.   Much like Penelope, the last pooch in this post, being encouraged and petted by her owner, David Ortega, from Victorville, California.   Penelope is a 2-year-old American bulldog.   Dogs may or may not have certain characteristics, but most often it’s the way they are treated that forms their personalities.   These photos were taken for the Williamson County Sun.

Texas leads the country in many areas.  Among those is the production of cotton.   For years, the Lone Star state has come in first for their  efforts.   In my area of Central Texas, the Blackland Prairie land is even more well-suited than most.   The dirt is dark and rich.   This year’s crop, says longtime Taylor-area farmer Larry Safarik, is among the best he’s seen in years.  “We got the rain when we needed it the most, in June and July,” explained Safarik.  The soft and fuzzy result was a good outcome for the 900 acres he planted this season.   Like many modern farmers, Safarik plants the seed and cultivates the crop, but at harvest time, he brings in outside help to get the harvesting work done.   That’s a good thing since Safarik continues to teach middle school when he’s not in the fields.  The harvesting goes on day and night, seven days a week.  Rain, a good thing  in early summer, can be a hindrance when its time to pick.  Nobody wants to harvest a soggy yield.   Once harvested, his cotton makes  its way to Waterloo Gin, one of many longtime facilities in the area ready to get the 22,000 pound modules from the fields whittled down into 500 pound bales.    Like its counterparts, the Waterloo Gin is a dusty place, but quite efficient.   Most of the workers wear protective masks (yours truly included), but gin worker Pedro Guajardo seemed oblivious to is effects.    Once ginned, our local cotton is then taken to the Taylor Compress, where it’s stored in huge warehouses  until its sent on its way, much of it across the ocean.     This little slice of Texas, my “land ocean,” loves its cotton crops this year.

For a number of years in the 19th Century, the Chisholm Trail was a key route ranchers used to navigate their valuable herds to markets in the north.   Novelist Larry McMurtry eloquently took us into that world in “Lonesome Dove,” his 1985 masterpiece which went on to win the Pulitzer prize for fiction.   In Georgetown, Texas, thanks to the Williamson Museum, a bit of that time is remembered each October at their Chisholm Trail Days celebration held  in San Gabriel Park.    In its heyday, the famous Chisholm meandered right through Georgetown.   At Chisholm Trail Days, folks enjoyed western music, a cowboy breakfast, learned  how to lasso a little and perhaps sat astride a horse.  They got to listen to stories about the Buffalo Soldiers from the very knowledgeable Horace Williams, the current head of Company A, 9th Cavalry, based at Camp Mabry, Texas.

Blacksmiths regaled everyone with their metallic endeavors.    One thing I found particularly interesting was the different points of view regarding cowboy boots.   One little guy, in a couple of frames, obviously loved his footwear, but another young man obviously had had enough!  The culmination at each year’s event is when a herd of Texas longhorns make their way through the park.    I’m thankful the Williamson County Sun allows me to document this event for their astute audience.   By the way, the cowpoke who didn’t like his boots is my kind of guy.   I’m Texan through and through, but those pointy cowboy boots are truly a pain!

If you attended Market Days last Saturday on the Georgetown Square, you may have had the good fortune to see 6-year-old Jordan Covington as he made a wee bit of music in front of his father’s guitar shop, Ken’z Guitars.   Dad is not a violinist, but Jordan did seem quite taken with the instrument.   He even attracted some paying customers, enough, according to dad, to purchase a new toy or two!   “I need to let him take lessons,” said dad.    From the looks of things, I think Jordan would love that.    By the way, that is indeed a real violin, just very very tiny, like Jordan!