For tonight’s full moon, I remembered my Circleville ranching friend mentioning how her resilient mesquite tree survived our recent ice storm.  Sure enough, it looked battered, but strong-willed this evening as the moon shone overhead.   The others are just lunar scenes from the ranch.   This one’s called a Worm Moon.

By now you likely know I’ll slow down for a barn photograph.  Last evening,  while rambling through Williamson County near day’s end, I noticed a barn never before on my radar.   With no vehicles coming behind me, I stopped to admire the golden light.   What caught me off guard was a youngster running into the field in front of the barn.  I tried a grab shot, but it wasn’t so very sharp.   The boy briefly stopped, taking in the warm scene.   That opening photo is pretty sharp, a good moment.  I wondered what caught his interest as he looked into the darkening sky.   His presence is small, but he’s there.   The second photo was the “grab shot.”  There’s a lack of sharpness and too much movement, but I wanted to include it here.    Just something quiet, even if not precise.   The barn is nice, too.

A Waxing Gibbous moon, at 94.5% visibility, is seen in two photos tonight.  Included there is (yes) another windmill, plus a scene in downtown Bartlett, Texas.  The last photo, at Taylor’s St. James Episcopal Church, gives us two dots in the night sky.   I think they’re Venus and Jupiter, but feel free to correct this!   St. James Episcopal Church was built in 1893.

If you don’t see windmills offered for an extended period, it means the photographer isn’t working hard enough.   So tonight a prairie windmill.   I thought black-and-white was appropriate this time.

Thursday was Texas Independence Day.   I’d thought about posting something, but didn’t.   Early this morning, as I was reading and enjoying a cup of coffee in my home office, morning light from an east-facing window highlighted a Christmas ornament placed on one of my year-round trees.    The rays danced across the metallic surface.   In recent years, it seems that the Texas day has become more polarizing.    For me, however, this state is about space.   After 35 years living out-of-state, we yearned for more room.   Metro-Atlanta, where we spent 29 years, was becoming a traffic nightmare.   When returning to Texas in 2009, we chose Taylor.   The little East Williamson County community wasn’t suburban sprawl.  The farm and ranch land surrounding us created a fine landscape.    Now, with Samsung Semiconductor’s impending arrival, the notion of space may again be elusive.    We’ll see.  People move to Texas for many reasons, some of them spot-on.     We came back for a simple one.  It’s home.   There are many good people here, but quite a few with an axe to grind.   That’s regrettable.    Learn to be patient.   And tolerant.   We’re all made from different molds.

During one of my walks this week, a well-dressed young lady was getting a bike-riding lesson near Taylor’s Bull Branch Park.   At first I continued my walk, but the scene just pulled me in.  Retracing my steps, I asked mom if it was okay to observe the lesson.   If she’d said no, I’d have moseyed on, but she was fine with the intrusion.   Her daughter is just 3-years-old.    Before I began toting my inexpensive Olympus mirrorless camera a while back, there was always a cell phone in my pocket.   Cell phones are quite advanced now.  Several photographer friends make  wonderful moments with their mobile devices, but, at least for now, I’ll stick with what fits my comfort zone. It weighs little more than an iPhone.    The last photo in this post is somewhat busy, but the expression on the little girl’s face was priceless!

While at Georgetown’s Berry Springs Park & Preserve this afternoon, I expected to see birds, deer and wildflowers.   What I didn’t expect to find were goats, but sure enough I met goat siblings Biscuit and B.J. having a fun time with their humans.   The goats are a few months old, bottle-fed shortly after birth by the the sisters pictured here.   They’re affectionate and well-behaved goats, but the girls determined that B.J. wasn’t meant to ride on a slide.  Thankfully, B.J. had a safe landing.  During our recent frigid and icy weather, the goats were kept inside the family home to keep them cozy.   They do have their own barn, too.  You never know what you’ll find when you pay attention to life’s details.

It’s that time again, when we get to see our state flower.   Since they’re technically weeds, they come in quickly, then get consumed by other weeds.   Look for them while they’re here.   This is at a favorite spot in Circleville, Texas.

In recent days I’ve begun to notice an abundance of daffodils adding color to our area.   On an evening when I wasn’t up to wandering out into the countryside, a stop at Taylor’s Murphy Park  was just fine.    While not posting a lot of flower photos, these reinforce my philosophy of exploring the subject matter beyond just one offering.   Sure, you can get that one knock-your-socks-off photograph that stands alone, but it’s fun to dig deeper.   A few photographer friends get this, most notably a guy named Gary Hershorn,  a  talented Canadian-born photographer  based in New York/New Jersey.   Look him up on social media.   You’ll be glad you did.

It’s not often I’ll forego a cup of coffee and a good book, but when looking out my office window at dawn this morning, I was entranced by a gentle fog.    I grabbed my cameras and headed outside.   The first stop, as in past foggy mornings, was to Taylor’s Murphy Park, where I watched as dark-feathered cormorants glided through the monotone mist.    After a few minutes at the park, I ventured out into the county, where the fog’s presence was even more pronounced.   A favorite old truss bridge spanning the San Gabriel River along County Road 366 was a good place to stop.  The bridge has long been closed, but still holds my interest.   As does the river.  Away from the river, but nearby was a stand of pecan trees, some battered by the recent ice storm, but still in place.   With the fog still holding on, I headed toward home, passing over the river near Circleville.   A wide shoulder on the state highway made it possible to get out for a look.  I’m glad I stopped for a peek.   Fog clarifies.  It brings with it a sense of calm quietude.