This one was fun.   The Georgetown Animal Shelter held a kitten adoption at the Georgetown Public Library this morning.  The shelter brought 25 kittens, all spayed and neutered.   When I left a little over 2 hours later, all but three had found new homes.   Fees were just $35 per kitten.   While I’m satisfied with all the photos, the little boy cuddling a kitten in one of the photos  might be a favorite.  It’s the last one here.  He was getting his first-ever pet.   Those eyes let me know he’ll be a good pet owner. Also included, a little girl eventually cajoling her mom into adopting a tabby kitten.   She finally won mom over!

I intended to stay close to home on the day  these two photos were made this week, but the quality of  early-evening light coaxed me into the countryside.   Thankfully, there’s still some rural character to find.    These weathered, but regal barns were just the right therapy.

Beyond egrets, herons, geese and ducks, I know little about owls.   She was perched on a fence after a rainstorm moved through Noack last night.   She didn’t seem happy, but perhaps that’s her smiley face.

Maybe I need to apologize for this windmill affection, but let’s not, shall we?   After living 29 years in metro-Atlanta, we returned to Texas in 2009.   After the crowding and bad air there, the open spaces of the Blackland Prairie were a welcome sight.    Windmills, whether they’re still in use or not, help define this agricultural landscape.   They are our country skyscrapers.   Maybe mentioned before, but a couple years ago, a curator asked me to enter some of my work in a show.   When reading information on their site, one of the jurists, a well-known photographer, had little good to say about windmill photography.   I decided their show wasn’t for me.    So there.  These are from the last few days, including one taken tonight.

A story on the radio this morning said it was National Cow Day.   The radio host thought it might be a creation of a particular chicken restaurant chain.   Whatever the case, I figured we have quite a few bovine friends in our area.   Hats off to cows.

Some photos taken this evening along a county road I like east of Thrall, Texas.   No more needs to be said.

Before happening on the dad and his daughters fishing at Georgetown’s Berry Springs Park & Preserve this weekend, I embraced other things, like these dragonflies hovering around the park’s pond.  When in flight, they are a photographer’s challenge.

Occasionally I visit Georgetown’s Berry Springs Park & Preserve to enjoy nature.   Sometimes, however, I find something more fun, like today when meeting a dad enjoying a fishing outing with his daughters, ages three and four.  It turns out today is actually the 3-year-old’s birthday!   She’s the young lady wearing the blue dress.  Dad was teaching the girls how to catch and release, too.  Later, a birthday celebration was planned back home.   This was indeed a good day.

After a busy Thursday night, followed by an intense post-production Friday, I needed something peaceful.   South of Beyersville, Texas seemed just about right tonight.  Dirt roads can be calming.

If you drive around Williamson County, it won’t be long before you see the small sunflowers growing  wild on the roadsides, adding a splash of summer color to the landscape.   What you don’t see as much are the large ones.   Those are usually planted by individuals.   Last year, I found a  field of those east of Granger, but they didn’t return in 2021.    While on a walk in Taylor last week, however, I noticed some of the big ones in a front yard.   With permission, I made a few photos of those, including ones thriving, plus those beginning to wilt.  I think they look neat  in that stage of their lives.   The first four  photos here are the large ones, followed by some of the small ones growing wild in the countryside.   They’re all  cool.