This young man looked familiar.   Driving along Mallard Lane in Taylor, the car window lowered, it had to be asked.  “Did I photograph you a couple of years ago?”   “Yessir,” he answered with a smile.  Would he be okay with a new batch of photographs?  He was happy to oblige.  After crossing a pretty busy road, he and his horse called Dakota found a safe passage for the rest of their ride.   The young man and his dad own four horses, boarded in Taylor.  Dakota, he says, is 21.   She looks good.   It was a nice to see him again on a quiet evening.

Once the sun begins to  go down, little time is wasted.  The three photographs offered here show a sunset near Granger, Texas a few evenings ago.   The three shots were all taken in less than ten minutes.   Sunsets are sometimes soothing.

You don’t really need many words for this post.   Just watching Texas Longhorns at sunset this week.    At times it’s nice to be brief.

Granger Independent  School District held an open house  today for their Granger Secondary School, designed for students in grades 7-12.   The new school opens to students and staff on Monday, March 2nd.  Although the building was essentially completed months ago, there were issues getting water to the site.   Now things are good to go.  The opening photograph is a night shot taken on Sunday.  Note the face of the lion looking right into the camera.   A lion is the Granger school mascot.  That face is so doggone cool. The rest of the photos are from the open house today.  This is a very local post, but worth offering here.

Windmills are posted al lot because they’re so well-loved by the photographer.    Whether they’re actually working or not is immaterial.  That they are still with us is what matters.   Don’t expect apologies for seeing them posted.  Two windmills are in this one.   If you don’t cotton to them, that’s okay.   As long as possible they will be offered here.

Cemeteries can be restful places, even for those still breathing the planet’s air.   Our Lady of the Rosary Cemetery & Prayer Gardens is such a place.   In Georgetown, it’s tucked away in a wooded area not far from a busy Texas State 29 and Toll Road 130.   When you’re there, however, the noise seems far away.   As Spring nears, the cemetery is a good place to find wildflowers.   On this recent visit last week the blooms hadn’t arrived, but they soon will..   In the meantime visitors can find peace near the pond, or walking through the woods.    Just a quiet spot away from chaos.

It’s been a while since a visit to Zion Lutheran Church in Sandoval, Texas.   These were taken there tonight.  The church is at the eastern edge of Williamson County, a few miles north of Thrall.  The church was formed in 1893 by settlers from Germany, Austria and Sweden.  The structure offered here opened in 1932.  The adjacent cemetery was here long before that, the first burial in 1897.   Most visits are exterior photos, but a  nice young man doing some  work there this evening welcomed a visit inside.   The last time in the sanctuary was a few years ago, during a warmer month when more flyswatters graced the pews.   There was just one there tonight.   The sanctuary  light is inspiring.

Driving through downtown Granger tonight, en route home to Taylor, this merited a few moments with the camera.    A farmer navigates West Davilla Street a little before 7pm.  There were no concerns about crossing the tracks.  Rest assured, farmers know train schedules here.   These two photographs are moments apart.  As growth spreads across our area, it’s becoming necessary to visually connect with what we’re seeing disappear.   When returning to Texas almost sixteen years ago,  this land and sky  inspired photographs.  Now  the photographs seem to be a way  to remember what has gone before.

For newer connections, photos are taken during daily walks.   At week’s end (so far) they’re posted here.   The photographs are done quickly with a small Olympus camera.   These are the most recent photos, all in Taylor.

Another photograph from the grocery store parking lot tonight in Taylor.   Grackles, assuming they are grackles, are powerfully fascinating birds.  Their mass wandered under a Waxing Crescent moon  around 7pm.   The moon is at 23.6% visibility.   It’s small, but bright.  Grackles could be the state bird of Texas.