As our area continues to grow at unprecedented speed, I seek out places  that are quiet and still  a little agrarian.   Beyersville, an area in Southeast Williamson County,  is like that.    Mager Cemetery, in particular, is an occasional destination.   In the very far distance, if you look closely, you can see construction cranes at Taylor’s semiconductor plant.   Its influence hasn’t (so far) touched Beyersville very much.   Sometimes, when visiting Mager, I’ll see flowers sprouting near gravesites, or American flags.   And there’s rabbits, the occasional chickens.   Beyond its borders, however, are cattle, often curious when they notice the camera’s presence.   This post is about cows, and sunsets, spaces.   And solitude.  

Meandering in and out of clouds, the moon continued to look nice a little before 7a.m. this morning in Taylor.

This mesquite tree at a friend’s Circleville ranch keeps providing inspiration.   I stood on a hill tonight as a Waning Gibbous moon, at 99.5% visibility, found its way into the eastern sky a little after 7p.m.     Another post was planned tonight, but this seemed like a better idea.

Sunset and moonrise offerings from the village of Coupland tonight.   Prominent in two photographs is St. Peter’s Church of Coupland.    Before heading for home, a single moon photograph.   After taking these photos tonight, I remained for almost an hour to once more look for a comet photo.  If I can’t see it, so be it.   The sun and moon are sufficient. 

Photos from this evening are from Granger Lake, the Granger Lake Dam and the San Gabriel River, all connected.   I had traveled there to once again try to see the comet.   While that didn’t happen, I did find a few subjects.  Included are a paramotor enthusiast gliding over the San Gabriel River near a Waxing Gibbous moon, at 96.8% visibility.   I visited with Aaron, who enjoyed a nice ride near the river with his horse named Fantasma.  And the obligatory sailboat and sunset, followed by an evening photograph over the river.  

A Texas Longhorn grazes on a hill tonight in Beyersville, Texas.   I’ve made an effort to photograph the comet, but at this point, I’ll let that go.

Most of the time when seeing a hawk I’m seldom able to get photos before they skedaddle.   This one allowed a few moments of her time before departing.  

Almost home tonight, I happened on this couple focused on the western sky from a vantage point in Taylor.  Since the sky looked nice, I stopped for a photograph.   They were seeking out the Tsuchinshan-ATLAS comet.   Although I didn’t see the comet, I liked the couple’s focus.  The bright spot in the distance is Venus.   Before leaving, they did see the comet.  Maybe I’ll take another look this week.  It’s supposed to be visible for most of this month.

It was one of the rare weekends when I had no specific assignment or event to cover.  The notion of not taking photographs, however, isn’t in my nomenclature.   After reading for a couple of hours Saturday, I stopped by Berry Springs Park & Preserve, a beautiful county park where I often go for walks with a camera.   It wasn’t an outing for the newspaper, just an opportunity to get outside and see a few things.   Butterflies and grasshoppers merited attention, but the photo presented tonight was a  sweet moment.  A lady  enjoying a walk with her children noticed me taking photos.   Her 4-year-old son took notice of the camera, his eyes then  settling on a busy butterfly at work.   I think it’s a Queen butterfly.   The little boy, captivated by what he saw, began to reach out toward the butterfly.  I was certain it would fly away, but there it stayed, even when the little guy actually touched it.   Just some quiet photojournalism, friends.

A few photographs from daily walks this week in Taylor.    As always, it’s a post that doesn’t need much commentary, just things I see on morning strolls.   For now, these are taken with a very light Olympus mirrorless camera.