Cotton Near Year’s End

Although 2022 is almost done, I’m still seeing bits of cotton here and there.   What’s out there looks rode hard and put up wet.   One wonders when (or if) it will be harvested.  This was from last evening, a little south of Taylor, not far from the Samsung construction site.

Eyes on the Photographer

It’s funny, but I’m seldom able to get photos of hawks while driving around the countryside.  They’re usually perched somewhere.   By the time I grab a camera, they’ve gone.   Or vehicles approaching from behind make stopping problematic.    I seem to have better encounters during recent walks in Taylor.   This one was spotted on a wire (where the heck else would they be?).   I pointed the Olympus her way, thinking she’d zoom on away, but she stayed, just watching me while I watched her.   She was probably thinking I was a food source.   The collection of hearts on her feathers was intriguing.   After a ten-minute stare-down, I moseyed on home.   When I turned around, she was still there.  Focused.

A Few Minutes in Norman’s Crossing

Blackland Prairie skies were singing my song tonight as I drove through Norman’s Crossing.   It’s been too long since my last visit to the Saul family cemetery, along F.M. 1660.   It’s an area impacted by incredible growth, but the cemetery survives.   The Saul family settled the Brushy Creek area in 1850.  Charles Saul, born in 1818,  purchased a 640-acre tract here in 1862.  This part of his ranch was used as a burial ground when Charles died in 1870.   There are 23 marked graves, plus a few unmarked slave burials.  The last person was laid to rest here in 1918.  The cemetery is still maintained by family members.  This area continues to grow.  Some might say it thrives.  We’ll see how that goes.

Christmas at Prince of Peace

On Christmas afternoon, I took a drive around my area, often with no clue as to what I’d see.   Driving near Prince of Peace Lutheran Church in Wuthrich Hill, I was transfixed by the light gracing a facade of the structure.   That kind of light doesn’t last long.   It was enough.   Taking that route was well worth it.