While I find all seasonal crop harvests enriching, cotton is probably at the top of my list.  There are still healthy fields of cotton all around us, but the combines and tractors are out in these Blackland  Prairie fields, stripping as fast as they can before a rain comes along and damages all that hard work.   It’s a dilemma for some of us because we need the precipitation, but these farmers need good yields, too.   Anyway, these  photos were made  last evening as a friend’s field was harvested a little east of Taylor, Texas.    Most of these folks work well into the evening hours.   Thank goodness for modern equipment.   Expect more cotton posts, friends. 

Last week a friend, aware of my interest in preservation, mentioned the grand opening of the Lawhon Springs School and Museum in Lee County, Texas.   Nestled in a tree-shaded field along F.M. 619, just south of the Williamson County line, this one-room schoolhouse began life in 1924, closing in 1949.   For years it sat in that field, slowly succumbing to the land and nature’s elements.  A couple of years ago, a group dedicated to keeping its history alive, asked the owner of the land if they could repurpose it as a museum.    After much hard work, it opened Saturday, with a fresh coat of paint, extensive wood, roof and window work outside.   Inside, the walls were scrubbed and painted, the blackboard restored and the original floor was repaired.   The desks were acquired to add to the ambience, but the teacher’s desk at front is original. Also included are bits of history related to the area.  The last photo in this series isn’t from Lawhon Springs.  That’s my own little school desk, with me now for 61 years.  In 1958, as I prepared to enter first grade at Grim Elementary School in Texarkana, Texas, the school district decided to upgrade classrooms to more modern desks.   The original desks, with the school since its opening in 1913, were being sold for 25 cents each, which happened to be the amount of my weekly allowance.   With quarter in hand, I walked to the school, less than a block away, and purchased my desk.  Lugging it home, my puzzled mama asked “What have you got, Andy?”  But she let me keep the purchase.   All these years later, that desk has lived with us in Texas, Louisiana and Georgia.  It’s now used as a table for my morning coffee while reading.   Grim Elementary, however, is no more, the victim of a road-widening project.   Lawhon Springs School, however, is still with us.   You can visit it every third Saturday between 9a.m.-1p.m.

On this first day of autumn we reached 100 degrees in Central Texas, but let’s represent the day anyway, okay?  These are photos made this evening in East Williamson County, Texas.   The opening photo was actually the final image of the night, but since it’s my favorite, there you are. We’re in the middle of cotton harvest season.  You’ll see a few images related to that, this one included. The others two are along the same county road east of Granger.   The nearly-setting sun helped create some nice shadows, including one of my 13-year-old Honda gracing a barn’s facade.  It’s too dang hot, but I am not leaving Texas.  We’ll cope, but will welcome cooler temperatures, whenever they come.   Watermarks are usually on social media posts, but they’re here tonight, too.

Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to attend the parade for Bartlett’s Friendship Fest on Saturday in Bartlett, Texas, but arrived as soon as possible.  Bartlett is a Central Texas community of 1600-1700 people residing in both Williamson and Bell Counties, about 50 miles northeast of Austin.   Nevertheless, it was fun to watch a 7-year-old named Emmett try his hand at stacking wooden blocks in a game of Jenga.  Plus watching attendees do a bit of dancing along West Clark Street.  And friends enjoying the music of Nick Starling and the Nomads.  Many of my ventures into this community are at dusk, or well beyond.  It was  cool to see a few scenes not often encountered: vine-covered facades and American flags among them.  If all goes well, I hope to return to Bartlett a few more times.   These towns are filled with ambience.

My first assignment this morning was covering the Sun City Horticulture Club’s Fall plant sale.   Having covered it a number of times, I wasn’t mentally on-board with it, but accepted the assignment, as any work, with the notion that I’d do the best I could.   Then Ernie entered the picture.   At 99, Ernie’s the club’s oldest member, but on this morning, he wasn’t a worker.  He was a shopper, purchasing some nice cabbage plants to add to his garden plot.  In February, he’ll be 100-years-old.   A World War II veteran (Air Force), Ernie perseveres.  Vision and hearing issues are a challenge, but he’s a trooper.   He went about the work of the morning, adding those new cabbage plants to his garden plot, already adorned with many items, including some healthy-looking okra.   Because of his vision and hearing issues, Ernie’s watch is equipped with a speaker that loudly provides him with the time.  He gave up driving 8 years ago, but still navigates Sun City with his electric golf cart.    Ernie made a long day an exceptional one.

Many of the horses photographed in my area are lucky finds, but in Norman’s Crossing, Texas I’ve found some friends.  These friends have a shaded pasture behind the Norman’s Crossing Community Center.  These photos, taken a couple of night ago, aren’t meant to be literal interpretations.   I like how those  tails swish and swirl, keeping  the flies at bay.  They’re captivating to watch.  For my next visit, with their owner’s permission, I’ll bring along some carrots.   The  chickens will fend for themselves.

We didn’t get very much rain this evening in Taylor, Texas, but we did get a lovely rainbow.   It stayed with us long enough to include some grain elevators I like quite a lot at Williamson County Grain.   Short, but mighty sweet.

September is the month when we begin to see autumn festivals.   I’ll be covering one on Saturday in Bartlett, Texas.   The photos presented here, however, were made at a festival in Edom, Texas in September 1978.    Shreveport Journal staffer Steve Smith  and I had heard about this one.  It merited a drive out of Louisiana into the Piney Woods country of Northeast Texas.   Founded in 1849, Edom’s been around a while, but has  remained small.  It’s in Van Zandt County, a little west of Tyler.    The latest census figures I could find  lists the population as well under 400.   That’s probably about the right number for these 41-year-old images, too.   As with events like this, my goal is more about seeing personalities and culture of an area.   The clothing and hairstyles hopefully give you a sense of the time.  Do kids, or adults for that matter, still enjoy walking on slippery logs?   I like the gents relaxing at an Edom gas station while a lady possibly waits for a friend. And for a photographer to mosey on.     And the family picnic under the still-hot Texas day.   Ladies shopping for unique dresses and quilts.   A fellow taking a rest from demonstrating his wood-chopping skills.   Just little slices of life, friends.  From back in time with good old Kodak Tri-X black and white film.

Just a couple of photos tonight, friends.   Both were made earlier this month along a county road a little east of Taylor, Texas.   The farmhouse intrigued me.   For years, I’ve noticed it, sitting back off the road, nestled under a stand of trees.  Seeing it being readied for a move caught me off guard.  Did someone purchase the house, moving it to an area not so overrun by development?   I don’t know the answer, but wonder about the area it’s leaving behind.  The friends made since coming to this area might know the answer.   Just west of here were two venerable barns.  They looked ancient when we moved here ten years ago, but I’m glad to see them still with us.   Change is good, but some of us wish the prairie could hold on a little longer before developers take over.   Drive around this area.  Notice the For Sale signs on large chunks of land.   It’s only a matter of time before it’s gobbled up.

Sinus spells most of the day called for finding something soothing tonight.   A drive through Coupland was pleasant, but as I meandered east, the area around Beyersville was just what the doctor ordered.   At least it was for me.   So there.