These are from a few evenings back.    The sunset photo is  just a quick grab shot, but I think it works for what it is.    The other two horses share a pasture in Norman’s Crossing.   I know them pretty well.   Gotta scratch that itch. 

It’s been a busy couple days, friends.  The Palace on Thursday evening, followed last night by the Taylor Rodeo Association’s Rodeo, held at the Williamson County Expo Center.   The event goes for three nights, concluding this evening.   Rodeo is a sport, but also a cultural phenomenon.   I’m posting a big batch of images here.   The first ten focus on the athletes.   And yes, they are athletes.  Rodeo is a tough sport.    The next three show you a thing called Steer Saddling, where audience members get a chance to try their skills in the arena.   In Steer Saddling, the team goal is to get a saddle on a cow, then ride it.   It’s not  so easy!    The last ten concentrate on kids, maybe with their parents or grandparents.   Mutton Bustin’ is a treat to watch.   One of the last shots shows the Mutton Bustin’ winner carrying a box with cowboy boots she just won.   Enjoy the rest of your weekend, friends.  I’m plum wore out. 

Much fun was had photographing the dress rehearsal  of “The Wizard of Oz,” opening Friday night at the Georgetown Palace Theatre.    The picturesque Art Deco theater is the perfect venue for this show, the second time I’ve photographed “Oz” here.   If you’re in the area, get tickets.   Opening tonight, it’s  running weekends through August 14th.

This continues to be one of my favorite scenes to document.   It’s in Beyersville.   The drought has dried up a stock pond (tank) once visible in the front center of this image.   Hopefully, rain will put things back in order.  We had a few drops this afternoon.  Not nearly enough.  Crops and livestock  need sustenance.

These are some photos taken years ago of my Great-Uncle Harry Bradley, a lifelong farmer in Northeast Texas.    I mentioned him in a recent post about a visit to Nacogdoches.   Born in the late-1800s, he lived 97 years, always working, even when he was “retired.”   As a kid, I have good memories of visiting the farm, where he’d have copies of two magazines, “Progressive Farmer” and “Arizona Highways.”   The photos in the latter probably helped influence my career choice.  

Photos tonight are again from Nacogdoches, Texas, this outing at the Pineywoods Native Plant Center, along the Tucker Wood Trail.  Like the Gayla Mize Garden from the previous post, this area is maintained by the Stephen F. Austin State University Arthur Temple College of Forestry. I really like this quaint East Texas town!

Observed Tuesday evening while waiting for moon sighting through the clouds.   I’m thinking this group was en route to Taylor’s rookery.    Note that I won’t be chasing the dang moon this evening.  Moonrise here  is not until after 9p.m.   That means we’ll not see it for a while.   Enough of that.

Why the heck do we get cloudy skies, but no rain?  This makes it quite difficult to get a photo of a nearly-full moon.   It peeks out in the first couple photos.  In the end, I turned the camera around and just looked at the colorful cloudy skies.    We need the dang rain, friends.

Although living in Central Texas, I grew up in the Pineywoods of Northeast Texas.   When we left Georgia in 2009, we chose an area near Austin because it provided more work opportunities for us.   We’re still in Taylor, but a recent weekend drive took us to Nacogdoches,  a community of 32,000 where I studied for a year at Stephen F. Austin State University.   One of the places we visited was Gayla Mize Garden,  near the campus.   The site, adorned with towering loblolly pines and native plants, is maintained by the Arthur Temple College of Forestry and Agriculture.  The opening photo brings back childhood memories of standing in the middle of a forest of tall pines on the farm of my Great-Uncle Harry Bradley, near Queen City, Texas.   Born in the late-1800s, Uncle Harry was pretty much my grandfather.   His brother, my real grandfather, died when I was very young.  I was probably about 7 or 8 when Uncle Harry led me through two pastures.  We circled around the stock pond  to an area beyond,  a forest of aromatic pines, the ground covered with pine needles.   “This is my church,” he explained.    We stayed there a while, enjoying time together in this serene and quiet place.  Back to current time.   Will we stay in Taylor?   We thought so in 2009.  Now, however, the quaint community is about to experience tremendous growth as a Samsung chip factory is built here.  Scheduled to open in 2024, it’s already prompting home prices to triple in value, along with taxes and insurance.   If we go (a big if), it would be to a place like Nacogdoches, far enough away from metropolitan spread.   We got enough of that living in Atlanta, Georgia.   At any rate,  enjoy these images from the Gayla Mize Garden.

Tonight’s Waxing Gibbous moon, 96% visibility, shines over St. Peter’s Church of Coupland.   Even though we’re dry and hot, clouds formed enough to shield a complete view of the moon.   A so-called Super Moon is on tap.   I may or may not hop on that bandwagon for photos.