Our Lady of the Rosary Cemetery and Prayer Gardens, in Georgetown, Texas, is a place I go from time to time to take away a little of life’s stresses, at least for a while.   Although it’s close to a major toll road, once you’re there, you forget about its presence.   My first visit there was probably 9-10 years ago, when the Austin American-Statesman did a story about it.   At the time it was one of only two green burial grounds in Texas.  A “green” burial is quite natural, no embalming.   Today they offer traditional burials and cremations, too.   All that aside, it’s just a relaxing and beautiful place.  Spring’s arrival brings wildflowers.  On my recent visit this week, Texas Bluebonnets and Texas Paintbrush were abundant.   A trail leads to a little pond.  Standing on the observation deck, if you look closely you occasionally  see a passing car on the toll road, but somehow you don’t seem to care.   It’s a healing place.  Some of us need that.

While I always appreciate agriculture, it so happens that this week, March 22-28, is National Ag Week, hosted by the Agriculture Council of America.    There hadn’t been a plan to photograph three farm-related images.  It just worked out that way.   The first photo was taken on a very foggy morning, a regal tree surrounded by young crops.   The second photo was taken early this afternoon.   This morning had also been foggy.  When the photo was made, the fog had just begun to lift, leaving us with an interesting set of tonalities.   That’s not photoshopped to look that way, friends.   The final photo was made tonight, the sun back with us, a healthy field of wheat in the far reaches of East Williamson County, Texas.   Every week is Ag Week here.

I thought it a good night to just offer you some calming images.   At least they are for me.   In the midst of chaos and fear, we need serenity.   The body of water is the San Gabriel River.   The sunset happened a couple nights later, only yards from where the river photo was made.   Something calm.  

There’s this old red barn passed many times over the years, but I’ve never had a photograph that seemed to suit its character.   A couple nights ago, on a drizzly and misty Blackland Prairie evening, it looked about right.   It helps that there was a new field of crops in the distance.  

COVID-19 dominates our lives, but common humanity needs to remain intact.   In Georgetown, Texas, the city’s public school system has for years offered breakfast and lunch meals to underserved children.   Then this dreadful virus comes along and Georgetown I.S.D., like most systems around the country, has halted classes.  It’s the right thing to do.   Feeding children is right, too.   That’s why I was glad to be at Annie Purl Elementary School, where kids were being served hot breakfasts and lunches via  drive-through or  walk-up.  The school’s principal, Denisse Baldwin (the lady in the yellow t-shirt) was joined by a large group of helpers from within the school system.   Not only were they providing food, but also learning resources (think books) for kids and parents to study while at home.   The helpers had to first have their temperatures taken by a school nurse before being allowed to assist.  Today, Purl served 217 breakfasts and 465 lunches.   They’ll do this every weekday until classes resume.   Two other district schools are doing the same.   With Ms. Baldwin’s permission,  note that she has faced cancer two times.   The mask and gloves protect her immune system.  All school districts need this kind of compassion.   When Baldwin reached out to touch the window to communicate with one of her kids, I knew she had the right job.   That’s heart, folks. 

One of the new phrases we hear a lot  lately is “sheltering in place.”     For these horses seen during last night’s rain, it’s an apt description. 

One victim of the current crisis is Georgetown’s annual Red Poppy Festival, an event attracting thousands to the town square each April.   The festival is now on hold until next fall.    The poppies, however, know nothing about a coronavirus.   They are blooming now.   Or at least they were a few days ago when these photos were taken.   Growing up, many of us  school kids  were tasked with memorizing   “In Flanders Fields,  by Canadian poet, soldier and physician John McCrae, written while he served in World War I.   It begins:  “In Flanders field, the poppies blow Between the crosses, row on row.”  It was written after the battlefield death of a close friend.    As to how the City of Georgetown, Texas embraced poppies, that is easily found on the Web.   Look it up.  The flower’s history aside, I just find them remarkably-beautiful.

An international story, the coronavirus pandemic affects us at the local level, too.   This morning, I joined Larry, a  Meals on Wheels volunteer for 10 years, as he delivered meals to homebound residents in Georgetown, Texas.   This would be the last time Larry would provide meals for recipients for at least a few weeks.    As he made his deliveries, he explained why he wouldn’t be there for a while.   Some, like Josefa, in the opening photo, were quite sad.  There are repercussions, friends.   All stories, even ones with international news pegs, are local, too.   Community journalism matters.

Spring is officially here.    I didn’t realize it until hearing about it on the radio this afternoon.  So at day’s end,  I’ll pay homage to our state flower with this image from tonight. 

This photo of a pitcher and catcher having a pitcher’s mound confab in 1975 Shreveport, Louisiana, taken while working at the Shreveport Journal,  is one of my favorite people photos.   I posted it a few years ago, but in these days of “social distancing” I thought it might be worth sharing again.   Sporting events have come to a grinding halt as we deal with the coronavirus.   Be safe out there, friends.