Whenever time allows on my ventures into Georgetown, I like to make a drive along a county road east of town to a scenic portion of Berry Creek, an occasional destination for herons and egrets as they fish for their suppers.   A few times over the years, it’s just the creek itself, no birds in sight, but that’s okay.  The stream’s sometimes enough.   This week, driving over the creek’s bridge, I found human life strolling through the shallow water on a warm late-summer evening.   Finding a place to park, I introduced myself, asking if pictures would be okay.  They were happy to oblige.  It happens that they are siblings who’ve been working on a remodeling project together near here.   Brother and sister share a keen interest in archaeology, finding little treasures.   Berry Creek was a good place for treasure-hunting as they found rocks and bone fragments, probably going back thousands of years.   In one photo, sis holds up a rock with the impression of a starfish clearly visible.  In the other detail photo, brother displays what he thinks might be a bone fragment.   As darkness neared, they found their way up a hill and back to their truck, brother toting a little bucket of  artifacts.   It was a good day.  Note that although I do quite a lot of pictorial/landscape photography in recent years, it’s still enriching to find these bits of life going on around us.   You don’t always see these stories, but they matter for someone who’s devoted most of his career in pursuit of community journalism.  Life goes on all around us if we care to see. 

Just two photos tonight from a very-calming sundown over Granger Lake in East Williamson County, Texas.   I’ll leave it at that.

The corn harvests are beginning to wind down in East Williamson County, Texas, but most farmers I know will soon move right into cotton harvest.   This is a field coming along nicely tonight.  Our day and early-evening were filled with clouds and cooler temperatures.  Well, not really so cool, but well under a 100.  This barn is among my favorites.  I like its shape.   Since it’s accepted practice to rotate crops, it was probably two years ago when cotton was growing here.   I’m glad to see it again.

A song by Sting, from his “Brand New Day” album, seems right for the post this evening.   Windmills are an integral part of this Blackland Prairie in East Williamson County, Texas.   They are photographed often.  Perhaps two years ago, a new friend, Gary,  was suggested on Facebook.  Most days you’ll find his photos of New York City on his timeline.   Beautiful images.   Gary continues to post resplendent photos.   While my time in that city is limited, Gary’s photos  make me smile.  Windmills, as often as I post them, are part of my prairie skyline. Presented here are four of them.  The second image includes a human.  Look for her.   Hopefully, the work doesn’t bore you. 

Pistons on the Bricks is  a car show held every fourth Friday in downtown Bartlett, Texas.   When they mention “bricks” in Bartlett, they are referring to the brick street that winds east to west through the downtown corridor.  These venerable cobblestone streets are a treasure.   Drive a few miles south and you’ll see Granger, also adorned with brick streets.  Bartlett is a community about 45 miles north of Austin, residing in both Williamson and Bell Counties.  The population is somewhere under 2000.   We’ll have to wait on the 2020 census to fill in that blank.  Normally I don’t post exclusively-local happenings, but Bartlett transcends.   Included here: a 1955 GMC Hydra-Glide truck, a 1941 Willys (the orange beauty), his and her Volkswagons, headlights of a 1958 Edsel.   The post finishes with one of the resident cats living downtown, plus a Bartlett resident, cowboy hat intact, enjoying an evening’s ambience.

Whenever possible, it’s a personal challenge to get up, and get going, before the sun begins to. shine.   As age takes its inevitable toll, it’s not always easy.  But this Saturday morning was okay.  Our four-legged alarm clock, Star, came knocking about 45 minutes ahead of sunrise.  This isn’t always a welcome tapping on our door, but she got yours truly moving on this fine day.   Photos tonight were taken this morning as dawn  made its appearance on the Blackland Prairie.  Photos include the pond at Prince of Peace Lutheran Church in Wuthrich Hill, also the church cemetery there; horses in the early warm light;  a dog taking liberties as she (he) moseyed down a county road, plus some barns.  Barns are a constant presence.  One image taken before sunrise isn’t included here because it didn’t have that “early” feeling.  The rest were all made at dawn, and 30 minutes beyond.   The beginning of a day, anywhere, can be sweet.  By the way, I worry about that dog.  

These are photos taken last night on a drive through Coupland, Texas, a community of around 300 a few miles south of our Taylor home.   Looking at the sky, one would assume a storm was coming, but it did not.  We could use the rain though.  The steeple in two of these photos is St. Peter’s Church of Coupland, a beautiful edifice.  This post opens with a black-and-white image. Stripping away the color can sometimes clarify and simplify.  

Even though cotton is sprouting throughout our area of the Blackland Prairie, many fields of corn remain.   Farmers are working hard to get their corn harvesting behind them. .  Many, if not most, will be harvesting cotton very soon.   Because we’ve not had as much rain as we’d like, cotton is  coming in a little slower.   In the opening photo, a farmer, raking cornstalks from a stripped field, gets off his tractor to manually clear some bits of stalk imbedded in the rake pulled by  his  tractor.   It’s interesting that he never seemed to notice the camera’s presence as he went about his task.   I know a lot of farmers, but this gentleman and I have yet to meet.  Hopefully we will someday.  Note that all the photos were made on a stretch of county road near Bartlett  I like a lot.  Not all on the same evening, either.   The green covering in a couple of photos is cotton.   The crops coexist quite well.

This old truss bridge crossing over the San Gabriel River  was already long-retired when we moved to East Williamson County, Texas in the  summer of 2009.   Replaced by a more modern conveyance, I was happy to see it running parallel to its replacement.   It returns us to an earlier time when things were simpler and bridges had character.   In recent years, it’s been a popular place for curiosity-seekers, most of them respectful of its history.   On this recent summer visit, I met a spider who seemed not one bit bothered by my presence, continuing to spin its web.   After a few minutes I prepared to head home, but not before taking a couple of shots of just the water as it meandered east, temporarily dammed at Granger Lake, but  eventually meeting up with the Brazos, then the  Gulf. 

Even as the sun went down tonight over the prairie, you could feel the heat.  Today was either our 16th or 17th straight day of triple-digit temperatures.  I love the sun, but not the heat.