A view of West Davilla Street in downtown Granger on a pleasant evening this week.  Locals know this, but that spire is Saints Cyril & Methodius Catholic Church.  This community of around 1400 residents is quite nice.

It’s been a few years since my last visit to Independence, Texas, a picturesque and historic community in Washington County.  Founded in 1835, it’s  the original site of Baylor University, also the home of Sam Houston and his family for a time in the 1850s.   Like many others I go there to see the wildflowers.   We were fortunate to find a place to park.  I can only imagine what weekends are like when flowers are blooming.   Wildflowers are the draw, but the site is adorned with historic structures.   Sometimes you can go inside these places, but not on the day we were there.   Photographers were everywhere.   That makes perfect sense to me.   Note I don’t usually watermark photos on this site, but this time I did.

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.