The brick cobblestone streets in Granger (and neighboring Bartlett) are nice, but when  rain falls  on them  at night, those bricks just glow.    It’s been a while since I’ve photographed Granger’s West Davilla Street in the rain, but I did so Tuesday night.    Even with  an umbrella and rain poncho, I was getting throughly soaked.   Old streets like this are  small-town treasures.   I hope their governments continue to care for them.   My hometown street was brick when growing up in the 50s and and 60s.    In later years it was paved over with asphalt.   That’s sad.   Despite a severe personal drenching,  last night was a delight.  

It’s rainy a lot tonight in our area.   Clouds arrived this afternoon leaving us with some interesting skies.  The rain had begun this afternoon when I saw the donkey, comfortable in its enclosure.   The others two photos are just our Central Texas palette.

This small pond is one I’ve driven by many times.  On a recent outing, with good warm light at hand, I stopped for a photograph.   Since first seeing it a dozen years ago, I’ve not once seen livestock   here.   So let’s call it a pond, not a tank.   Even  during the hot and dry summer months it always seems to contain water.    I’m thinking  it’s a spring-fed pond.    The tree adds a touch of elegance.   At one time there was a rowboat at its edge.       It’s a simple, quiet place, enveloped by the Blackland Prairie. 

This morning I rose early enough to record the first sunrise of 2024, but just found cloud cover. The sun did finally come up later in the morning.   Encouraged, I decided to try for a New Years Day sunset.   The sunset was rather pedestrian for this area, but about twenty minutes later the skies held onto an interesting mix of blues, oranges and yellow, making for a nice palette in the western sky.   So this is my “sunset” photo to mark the new year.  Happy 2024, friends. 

No surprise here, but the weather forecast was wrong.   Expecting a sunrise photo on the first morning of 2024, we were cloud-laden.   One makes do with what’s there.   The San Gabriel River and the venerable truss bridge, plus two barns I like a lot.   All are in Taylor.   As this is written just before 9a.m., the sun is out.   We’ll see what the day brings.

A continuation of time spent in Burnet County, Texas includes these snapshots of  The Globe Theatre in downtown Bertram, Texas, a community of almost 1800.  As the son of a theater projectionist, I have a fondness for theaters (and drive-in theaters, too).   The Globe opened in 1935 as a movie theater, continuing until its closure in the early-1980s.   For years it was closed, but in 2009 new owners began bringing it back to life.   It re-opened in 2015 as a performing arts venue.   I’d love to see its interior, but if you visit their website you can get a peek.  These old theaters are treasures.

This was taken just after sunrise this weekend in Burnet County, Texas.   While we often turn our cameras toward a rising sun, it’s also nice to see what that first crisp light of day does to the recipient of those rays.     For a brief time these trees were transformed.  

Friend Michael Biggs, who shares a love of old bridges, offered a post about the Joppa bridge, a wonderful truss bridge spanning the North Fork of the San Gabriel River north of Bertram.  Since I needed a reason to get out of town for a night, a trip to Burnet County was in order.   Little did I know there were actually two truss bridges, just two miles apart, both spanning the San Gabriel.   There’s the Russell Fork bridge, built in 1911, 102 feet in length.   Thinking I’d arrived at the right bridge, a few photos were made there.   My directions also mentioned  Joppa Church, two miles away.  I figured that was worth a look, too.   To my surprise, there was another bridge, this one the actual Joppa bridge, built in 1907, 136.2 feet in length.   The Joppa bridge was adorned with holiday lights.  Since it wasn’t quite dark, I drove around the area for a bit, returning to find what you see in these photos.  This is an absolutely stunning sight!   I’m not sure who decorated it, but wonder if the folks from Joppa Church did the work?  Whoever it was, kudos to you for highlighting this treasure.

Cows are a common sight as I wander around our area.   Sometimes I stop and take a few photos, but don’t always offer them up.   Presented here are some recent examples from prairie ramblings.   In that first photo I was actually taking photos of the pond at sunset, but then a four-legged being entered the frame.   Sometimes it’s just luck.  

While most of the photography I do is done in a state of near-constant motion, occasionally I’ll take the time to scale back  and just really study a subject, particularly something that  moves me to do so.   One subject that often intrigues me is the San Gabriel River, a meandering body of water that begins in the hills west of Georgetown, flowing through Jonah, Taylor and into Milam County.    These photos were taken late Wednesday afternoon at the Mankins Crossing area  of the river between Georgetown and Jonah.  Last summer this area was nearly dry, thanks to our drought.   It’s looking much better now.   The light quality at this time of year is incredible, combining nicely with trees entering their winter months.   There’s much more to this river, but these  are only small impressions while slowing down long enough to take notice.   We could all benefit from a slower pace.