From this evening at the rookery in Taylor’s Murphy Park.   The egrets arrived a little later than usual this year, but they were certainly a presence tonight.   It was a rainy day, and very cool, high temperatures  in the 60s.  While mostly egrets, ibis and cormorants, we were gifted with a few Whistling Ducks, too.   A fisherman at the lake noted  that some people in Taylor don’t care for the birds, but “I like them,” he said.   This photographer agrees.

A group of photographs from the  afternoon and evening wandering around the Blackland Prairie.   The rain was welcome, but temperatures dropping by almost 30 degrees was even nicer.   The cooler temperatures were a welcome gift.

Two Step Inn, a series of outdoor concerts, is  being held in Georgetown’s San Gabriel Park this weekend, but Friday night visitors to the downtown square got to listen and dance to music offered by Vinyl Ranch, aka Disko Cowboy.   This free event was coordinated by the Downtown Georgetown Association.   Two Step Inn, with some big-name acts, is by no means free.  Attendees might get a dousing of rain, too.   But the light was really nice last night.

From an outing earlier this month in Taylor, this one near Fannie Robinson Park.    Night tracks are compelling.

For a while these posts focused on barns.   They haven’t been forgotten.   Know that every barn ever posted has been documented a few times.   But a few of them, like the Blackland Prairie, are disappearing.  Some, battered by age and the elements, just fall down.  Some are removed by human hands.   Six barn photographs tonight, friends.  Four are still standing. Two are gone, including the one with lightning, plus the two red barns together.  Both of these were posted in 2024.   A version of the two red barns graces  our living room wall.  Folks have their reasons for removing these structures. With rapid development  in our areas north of Austin, these spaces are becoming quite valuable to developers.  One area family, rather than take their old barn down, has been fixing it up with new wood and a nice coat of red paint.   One barn, not posted tonight, actually succumbed to a lightning strike a few years ago.   A personal goal for years has been to document  things we are losing.   Progress isn’t always. bad, but sometimes it’s painful to see.

Late-day light falls on a thriving wheat field east of Granger.  Things just look better with the right light.  In the distance are cattle, followed by cornfields.  There’s much to see here.

From an evening wandering, this time near Thrall, Texas.   Honestly, if there was just one subject to document, it would likely be a windmill.  

This unpaved road was found years ago when wandering miles east of Taylor.   The trees created a perfect canopy over the scene.   Back then, getting out of the car for a few photographs was simple.  This version was taken in mid-March.   While still serene, it’s not uncommon  to find someone barreling along behind you.  Quiet spaces are still around, but quickly fading, the price of progress.

Rain fell throughout the day on Sunday.   We were enjoying a visit to the Georgetown Library, one of our go-to places to rest.   After a while, we stopped at Sprouts in Georgetown.  Since  the rain continued to grace us with its presence, we made a short detour to Booty’s Road Park before  returning to Taylor.  Booty’s Road Park is adorned with  wooded trails close to the North Fork of the San Gabriel River, not far from Lake Georgetown.  To be clear, mid-afternoon photographs outdoors aren’t something embraced.  The light on sunny days is dissonant, not kind to subject matter.   But when an area is embraced by a gentle rain, it transforms into elegance.  That was what we found Sunday afternoon.   Hopefully, that Great Egret found sustenance.   Rain can be destructive, but also elegant and quiet.