A long thin cloud briefly engaged my attention early this morning in Taylor.   At first I thought it was something leftover from a fire, but it was really spread out.  It happened to hover over a field and farmhouses along our loop.   Less than a mile from home, I pass it  every day.   From the road it looks like two houses, with a barn in between.   Since we moved here in 2009, it’s appeared uninhabited.   A few years ago, a farmer was working the field.   I pulled in, asking if it was okay to snap a few photos.   He didn’t live there, only leasing the land for a crop.   For a while a large real estate sign sat in that field.   The sign is gone now.  With all the chip factory-related growth coming here, I wonder if this place has become even more valuable?   Next to it is Taylor’s middle school.   What does the future have in store for this beautiful piece of Blackland Prairie land?   It was beautiful when we moved here.   It still is.

A few rewarding hours were spent today at the Georgetown Police Department headquarters for their annual Blue Santa distribution.   Blue Santa, which started here in 2005, distributes gift boxes to qualified families who might not otherwise  have a happy Christmas season for their kids.   This year gift boxes were handed out to over 700 families, 2235 kids.   Due to COVID, this year’s distribution was a drive-through event.   While waiting in a long line of cars, kids were given stuffed animals and toys not part While I prefer how it used to be, I understand the need for caution.   There were a ton of good volunteers from the community on hand.  Any photos taken in a vehicle are recipients.   Others are helpers.  One of the helpers especially fun was the little guy munching on a doughnut while taking a brief rest from helping out.   His mom and dad are each commanders with the Georgetown Police Department.   He’s one neat little dude.

Autumn is winding down here.   Trees are in transition, shedding their leaves.   There’s this setting, one I’ve observed for a few years.   It’s east of Granger.  I’ll leave it at that, but like how some trees seem to stand out more than others as they evolve.  Two photos are included, each from the same area.  I’d prefer the second one if not for something personally annoying.   You figure it out.  Winter begins soon.

The holiday season can be hectic, filled with stress and traffic.   Driving along the very busy stretch of Georgetown’s University Avenue this week, the luminaries at St. John’s United Methodist Church were a pleasure to see.    The church’s roots span 140-plus years in Georgetown.   The congregation was formed by Swedish immigrants  coming to this  area.   It was first called Swedish Methodist Episcopal Brushy Church.   The their first sanctuary was built in 1882, a few miles from this site.   In 1906 St. John’s  moved to Georgetown proper.  In 1938 the church was renamed St. John’s Methodist Church, then  becoming St. John’s United Methodist Church in 1968.  The luminaries will shine all next week, along with a Live Nativity December 21-23, beginning at 6p.m. each night.    If you do nothing else, take a drive (or a walk) past this church at night.   You’ll find  it calming.

It’s been a really good autumn in Central Texas.  While I’ve taken quite a few overall scenes during recent walks, this will just be some of those tiny landscapes.   These were from daily strolls in Taylor, all made with that little Olympus I’ve used for a year.   The leaves are mostly leaving us now, but it’s been nice having them around.  

Just an update from earlier this week.   That cormorant seems to have gathered quite a crowd on that log at Taylor’s Bull Branch Park.

A few weeks ago, when taking photos of a fisherman paddling his kayak on the San Gabriel River, the original plan was to photograph the long-retired truss bridge there.  On County Road 366, just south of Texas 29, it’s long been a photographic subject.    Several years ago, I actually spent a whole night on that bridge to take photos of a meteor shower.   This was when it was really dark there, with no light pollution to speak of.  While it wasn’t far west Texas, it was pretty dark for Central Texas.   With the addition of a nearby Valero oil storage facility, however, available darkness is much less now.   I still like visiting the bridge.  It’s in a state of disrepair, with boards missing on what used to be its surface.  Limbs and brush from nearby trees are on their way to being a part of the structure.   Teens, or childish adults, like to add their graffiti.  One has to be more cautious now.   I keep thinking the county, or state, or whoever makes decisions will decide it’s time to tear it down.   Someone’s liable to put their foot in the wrong place, get hurt, get bitten by a snake, then feel the need to litigate because of their own inability to watch their step.  As the area grows, County Road 366 has become even more of a shortcut route to Taylor.  On the night these photos were made, dozens of vehicles zoomed right on by in just a few short minutes.   The bridge has its issues, but it’s a neat piece of Texas history.     Anglers like it, too.

Nature is interesting.   Usually, when strolling past turtles, their inclination is to dive back into the water.   Camera-shy, I guess.   This turtle, however, seemed glad to have a buddy to share her log.   Cormorants have that effect on some of us.   A photo from my daily walk in Taylor, Texas.

Near day’s end on Monday, I visited Georgetown’s Berry Springs Park & Preserve, easily my favorite park in that area.   It was a misty and sometimes rainy day.   That was quite alright.   I like those kind of days.   

I have friends who can draw, paint or make wonderful sculptures.  Since none of those artistic endeavors are part of my skill set, light is my medium.     Just a mushroom thriving at Taylor’s Murphy Park.  Photography is a craft, not an art.