A grove of trees near the San Gabriel River is an often-photographed subject.  At day’s end, the space can be expressive, warm, peaceful.   From tonight.

On a mostly-cloudy Saturday evening, the sun graced us with its presence over an often-photographed barn not far from us.   My guess is this barn is being taken down, but perhaps not.   Maybe the owners are restoring it.   A friend in Jonah has actually restored his family barn, a delight to see.    Some who’ve followed these posts for a while might be inspired by  an  attempt to offer beauty, quiet and peace.    But a few folks know that I’m doing what I can to preserve at least a visual representation of things leaving us as the Blackland Prairie landscapes slowly fade away.

A photograph taken this afternoon while waiting for an Easter Egg Hunt to begin.   Never one to sit still, the feet of a 9-month-old baby named Otis caught my eye.   When beginning this photographic journey 55 years ago, I was somewhat shy about poking a camera in others’ faces.   My own feet, however, became good subjects.   I called them “footographs.”  Seeing those elegant feet this afternoon engaged that memory.    They’re still “footographs.”

Since weather forecasts called for lots of rain today it was good to find some things to photograph before the bottom dropped out.   Now just after 10pm in Central Texas, the rain has yet to come, but we sure need it.   These are from today’s wanderings in Georgetown, beginning with a young man walking his dogs at Berry Springs Park & Preserve, followed by a member of Wesley Chapel AME Church grilling burgers and hot dogs at San Gabriel Park.  From there, a drive to the Georgetown Square offered a view of large letters spelling “Poppy.”   Next weekend is the city’s Red Poppy Festival.   The post concludes with photographs from the annual Easter Egg Hunt at Georgetown Church of the Nazarene.   One more post to follow tonight.

Photographs taken during  daily walks this week.  Red poppies in the first photo were taken Monday in Georgetown, the day I covered Special Olympics there.   The rest are from Taylor.   A Great Blue Heron is included, too.  I love those birds.    All were taken with an inexpensive Olympus camera, probably costing less than your mobile device.

Just a scene taken last night along a road in North Williamson County, Texas.   We’re not the Hill Country, but we do have a few nice hills.

These four photographs are about sunsets, but also in the few minutes past sunset.   Each are in North and Northeast Williamson County, Texas, including Granger, Walburg and Bartlett.   The Bartlett downtown photo is from this evening, Others are  from  this week.

There’s a lot to love about the San Gabriel River,  adorned with  good places to wander.    This is among my favorite spots,  a site where I can observe activity from a high angle, giving the subjects their privacy while I snap away with a telephoto lens.   Great Blue Herons have got to be direct descendants from prehistoric times.   It was a delight to observe this one as she searched for fish in the shallow water.   This little session was probably 15-20 minutes.   The light was nice, too!

Scenes like this make me think being a vegetarian was a good thing.   Family time on the prairie.

Even though it’s only mid-April, temperatures were climbing into the mid-90s today in Georgetown.   Much of today’s efforts were devoted to covering the Georgetown ISD Special Olympics, held at the district’s athletics complex.   Special Olympics have been one of the best things I’ve covered, going back to the mid-1970s.  The first couple are from the opening ceremonies, plus a bit of this and that.   When athletes needed a rest, they found a cooler place underneath the stadium stands, where students found simple joy with very large bubbles.   This two-day event continues Tuesday, but it’s not likely I’ll be there for that.