Recently, while watching a collection of reeds and water, a sweet little Red-winged blackbird hopped on board, staying there long enough to give me what appeared to be a smile.   I usually  see these birds in groups, and from a distance.   This was a nice encounter.

This is a Bell County, Texas scene I almost passed up, but then decided to go back.   The photograph involved traipsing through some very high grass.   Thankfully, no slithering critters came to call.   Barns and sunsets do well together.

Crops are planted.  It’s my hope that they will be given a chance to thrive.   Offered tonight are photographs from the last few days.  Take particular note of the dark soil.   You see me occasionally referring to the Blackland Prairie in posts.   Look at that dirt.   It’s some of the richest  land on the planet.   I’ll leave it at that tonight.

This could’ve been just about anywhere in rural North America, but this was Monday night’s sunset in Granger, Texas.  

This pair of barns were recently photographed near Beyersville.   They’ve been a subject for a few years.   The skies above them on this evening made them a candidate for my continuing barn interpretations.

Often I’ll return to a place where bluebonnets were found in past years only to find nothing there at all, but this barn near Jonah again plays host to a field of the Texas state flower.   It’s good to see them back.   It helps that I also love this barn.

Great Egret numbers are increasing at Murphy Park’s rookery in Taylor.    Cormorants continue holding onto their slice of the pie, too.   Hopefully they’ll find a way to peacefully coexist, but I’m fairly certain there will be many more egrets landing here.   Maybe they’ll have a wetter and cooler time this year.   These are from Friday evening, when the clouds were nice to see.   Time at the rookery is relaxing.   I just unfold my chair and enjoy the scenery.  

Daylight Savings Time returns to Texas in a few hours, but I will miss what we lose for a few months.   Tonight’s post pays homage to the sweet evening light I love.  The grain elevators and tracks were taken a couple of nights ago.  The  other two are from this evening, including a fisherman enjoying the last bits of light at Dickerson’s River Bottom, a section of the San Gabriel River filled with white bass at this time of year.   And a windmill, seen tonight  under a gathering of clouds,  one never photographed, but right here in Taylor.   The good light will come later for a while.

A couple of years ago a friend, knowing my interest in cemeteries, mentioned Lilac Cemetery, a picturesque resting place in Milam County.   It’s a few miles northeast of the community of San Gabriel, but also just two miles west of Sharp, Texas (no relation to my family).   The first burial here was in 1870, continuing to be a final destination today.  Interred here are four Civil War veterans, one Spanish American War veteran, nine World War I veterans, plus a few from other conflicts.   During this recent visit I noticed a new gravesite.   The area is cradled on all sides by bits of the Blackland Prairie.   The outhouse is a nice addition, giving us another nod to the history of this place.  

On the way home from a short visit to Milam County last evening I was inspired to stop and record this relaxing scene as a horse relaxed  next to a little pond.  White horses (and blue light)  tend to draw me in.