The cold breath of winter isn’t done with us yet in Central Texas.   I took a drive around East Williamson County tonight,  encountering  sleet and temperatures in the 20s.  Going home seemed like a good idea, but not before seeing these friends finding warmth and a dry place to get out of the wind.   Ice was forming on my car when I got home.   Mostly, I like our winters, but never cotton to ice.  

On a recent early-evening ramble, I wasn’t seeing much, but then this sunset in North Williamson County pulled me in for a few moments.   Daylight Saving Time is just a few weeks away.   Most know this, but I deplore the change.   Leave nature alone.

Last night was one the rare times with development and growth actually helped achieve desired photos.    I’d photographed this windmill a few times through the years, but  the two-lane county road had become too busy for me to pull over for photos.   The road now has a wide shoulder, providing a place where I can pull over and shoot as long as I want without disturbing anyone.    The opening photo is my top choice, one of the last ones taken.  I had started to head on home when a cow and her calf moseyed into the frame.   The other two are simply windmill images.   The last one may give you some idea of the area, a scene-setter if you will.  

Something I saw tonight before moseying on home.  Just a simple scene from the Blackland Prairie.

There’s a name for this type of cloud pattern, but memory fails me right now.   A bit after sunrise this morning, the clouds above Taylor were speaking my language.  It made me think about Joni Mitchell’s 1969 recording.   “I’ve looked at clouds from both sides now……”.   You probably know the rest.   Anyway, some morning photos from Murphy Park.   The clouds soon faded away, but they were pleasant while they lasted.

Sometimes I just throw stuff out there with no particular theme.   Presented here are three recent photos.   The only commonality?  I took them!     The tree in the window was taken last evening.    Some folks just can’t wait to take down their holiday light displays.   I like seeing them.   Light can give joy.   The second photo is a night shot over our rail yard in Taylor, a freight train coming in.   The last photo was taken this morning in Georgetown at Pistons on the Square, an informal monthly car show on the town square.    This great little dog was just happy for the sunshine on his face.   And to be with a good human.   

As I wander around my area of the Blackland Prairie, it’s a given that I’ll pull over for an interesting barn.   Someone once asked me if I ever took photos of new barns.   Yes, but not often.  If the old ones could speak, they’d tell us some stories.   These four have been sitting on my desktop for a while, time to offer them up here.   More to come soon.

These are from a few evenings back, when I made it  to the community of Sandoval, in the far reaches of East Williamson County, Texas.    The photos show Zion Lutheran Church Sandoval, also its cemetery.   I’ve photographed the church several times, but not the cemetery.   So I begin with that here.  And then some images of the church.   The community of Sandoval was formed in the early-1880s by German, Austrian, Swiss and French settlers.   The church congregation formed in 1893.   The original church was across the road from the current building, which opened in 1932.   The cemetery is older, the first recorded burial in 1897.    On this visit I met two turkey vultures, seemingly right at home there.

Some light variations from a drive around Granger tonight.   After a somewhat cloudy day, the sun came out this afternoon, looking quite nice as it dipped into the horizon near Saints Cyril & Methodius Catholic Church.   And a little bit later, moonrise on a quiet county road.  Tonight’s moon is in its Waning Gibbous phase, 99.9% visibility.   The blue evening light was welcome, but even better?  No traffic at all on this road.   I was able to watch the scene for several minutes  without any vehicle disturbance.   Light evolves.   Sometimes we get to observe.

These three photos are from tonight’s full moon in the Coupland area, beginning with St. Peter’s Church of Coupland, followed by a lone tree observed along a county road.   The post concludes as I watched a farmer prepare his field well past sunset.    This one’s called a Snow Moon.   I don’t care for naming conventions, but will go along this time.   It’s a full moon, friends.   That’s enough.