Photographing foggy scenes is almost always a pleasure.  It can be nature’s monotone.   Early this morning I stepped outside to a heavenly layer of fog in Taylor.   An actual assignment was coming up in Georgetown, but I took a few minutes for a visit to Murphy Park, celebrating its 100th year this weekend.   Fog can take a complicated scene and bring a feeling of serenity.  And clarity.   

Georgetown’s 7th Annual  Field of Honor, sponsored by the Rotary Club of Georgetown, officially opens Saturday morning, but I stopped by to see how it looked tonight.  Because of ongoing construction at San Gabriel Park, the  usual venue, the 1400 American flags are flying behind the Hammerlun Center for Leadership and Learning.   This year’s site is smack dab in the the heart of Georgetown’s Old Town district.   I think it’s a better site than the park.   The Field of Honor will continue through November 12th.

When moving to East Williamson County, Texas in 2009 I soon began to notice how trees, large and small, tend to stand out around here.   They have room to breathe.   Some are probably feeling down and out after the summer’s intense heat and drought.   Quite a few didn’t survive, but many  did.   The opening photo is a little tree I’ve admired for a while.   In early-2022 a sign on the Beyersville road where the tree rests indicated the road was closing for a development of some sort.   Earlier this week, the sign was gone, leading to a drive along that nice unpaved route.   I’m thankful the development didn’t put an end to this one’s life.   The other four are just some trees making a go of it on the Blackland Prairie.

A few minutes after sunset tonight I was admiring the late-day light on a series of power poles east of Granger, but as I drove along this county road I noticed what appeared to be a hawk perched on a wire.   Thinking she would take flight, I pointed a camera her way.   Although she didn’t fly away, she did meander across the line, eventually settling atop a pole.  Since the light was quickly fading, I moseyed on home, but noticed what appeared to be a star (planet?) in. the distance.   She’s probably still on the pole.

Just a few photos taken on Halloween night in Georgetown’s Old Town district.   No need to add more words.

Zion Lutheran Church in Sandoval is an exceptionally photogenic place, both inside and out.   This is a photo taken a few evenings back, right before our steady diet of much-needed rain.   If you’ve been by here, you’ll no doubt know about the gigantic Milam County  water tank placed right next to this beautiful church.   I chose an angle that takes care of the unsightly  thing.  The cemetery, of course, is included.

The first time I saw Rosalio, in either 2010 or 2011, he was running along a county road a few miles south of Granger, keeping a close watch on his herd of sheep, accompanied by Charlie, his Great Pyrenees, a fine helper who kept those sheep on course.   Each evening, after he got home from his job at a printing company, he would open the pasture gate, the sheep flowing out onto the roadside, munching on abundant grasses.   Sometimes a train from nearby tracks would pass, but all was well.   In years since then, I’d pass near his home, stopping just to visit, not for photos.   A while back, when grocery shopping in Taylor,  I ran into Rosalio.    When asking  how he was, he bowed his head, quietly mentioning a battle with prostate cancer, but followed this news with his  gentle  smile.   Last week, on the way to something else in Granger, there he was, still running along that some county road, chasing sheep, now joined by Rambo, his current Great Pyrenees.  Of course I had to stop.   The obvious question….how was he doing?   “I’m okay,” he said.   After three surgeries, including one to remove an unrelated tumor, Rosalio, now 69, was back in the game, doing what he loves.  He’s still working at the printing company, but now just three days a week.   Soon his daughter and her family will move into a new house being built on an acre of Rosalio’s land.  Being near massive development in and around Taylor, he gets inquiries about selling his acres, but this is home.  During the hour spent on these photos not one vehicle passed by.   I’m so glad he’s on the mend.   The last photo of him and Rambo looks posed, but isn’t.   They just came together in a nice way.  

After far too many days of hot weather, lasting well into what passes for Fall, a cold front moved through our area of Texas today, with temperatures in the 40s after a good dousing of rain.   It’s a good blue light night on the Blackland Prairie.   This post opens with a donkey sharing space with cattle a little east of Granger.  Add to that a couple of barns, each along the same county road.    One barn is adorned with a single light.   It’s a newer barn.   Its predecessor was destroyed by a tornado in 2022.   The last barn is simply one I like a lot.  An area resident led me to think it wasn’t long for this world.   It’s still here.

My Friday evening was at the Williamson County Fair’s Rodeo, held at the Williamson County Expo Center in Taylor.    As mentioned a few times, rodeo is about the only sport I photographed in recent years.   The culture surrounding this activity is mesmerizing.  One little girl, shown with her father, took part in a Lil Selena contest on Tejano Night at the fair. They enjoyed the rodeo, too.    This rodeo, like the fair here, is pretty new, just a few years old.  At the conclusion of the rodeo a large herd of obviously well-trained horses galloped a number of times around the arena.  And yes, the slow shutter speed is on purpose. It was an elegant end to a warm, but productive night.

During the Williamson County Fair and Rodeo this week, kids and families have traveled from all over Texas to show their sheep and goats during the Chisholm Trail Showdown, conducted by the Chisholm Trail Dorpers Association.   These photos are from Thursday’s Breeding Sheep Show, held in the show barn at the Williamson County Expo Center.   This isn’t to be confused with the upcoming county livestock show, also held here.  While I continue to cover that one, organizers have made photo coverage more challenging.   This low-key event, however,  was wonderful.   Presented here are a few moments from Thursday.