This morning I traveled to Burnet County to cover the Oatmeal Festival for the Austin American-Statesman.    This marks the 44th year for this Labor Day weekend event.    Most of the activity for the two-day event (which ends tonight)  takes place in Bertram, a community of a little over 1300.   Oatmeal is a community about six miles south of Bertram.  Oatmeal is actually the second-oldest town in this county, dating to the 1840s.   There’s not much there now.   The last census figures indicate about 20 residents.   There’s a community center, in a former school, plus a church and cemetery.   This post begins in Oatmeal, where a group was doing a horseback ride  from there to Bertram,   a safe ride thanks to a Burnet County Sheriff’s deputy watching over the riders.  In Bertram, my coverage focuses on the Grand Parade.    It was a dang hot day.   Our Texas Septembers generally are the hottest times of the year.   Many visitors sought shady places.  Grandma and her 2-year-old grandson managed to do just fine during the “Run for Your Oats” road race.    I like the 3-year-old beauty queen, Miss Itsy Bitsy Oatmeal, getting encouragement from mama near the start of the parade, later joining fellow royalty, 4-year-old Miss Little Bit of Oatmeal, as they waved along the parade route.   The cowboy boot-clad brothers, 2 and 4, were a hoot.   And the family watching the parade from their front porch was neat.  Ready-made shade, friends.  This is small-town Texas, but it could be small-town anywhere.   I like that.

Early morning imagery isn’t always easy.   As I get older, it gets harder, but I try.   This morning I woke before 6, bound for the rookery at Murphy Park in Taylor.  These photos were taken from 6:20 until 7:15.   The official sunrise was 7:09.   A Waning Crescent moon, 12.7% visibility, was good to see.  The lake at Murphy Park will be filled with birds throughout the year, but the egrets that arrived a few months ago?  They’ll soon be gone.  

Taylor’s Bull Branch Park is close to home.  Most of my daily walks take me through there.   Sometimes I return with a camera.  Bull Branch Creek is a stream that courses through the park, feeding into a pond, then meandering on to through Murphy Park and Fannie Robinson Park.   Finally, the long summer days are getting shorter, allowing a bit of low-light photography.   These are from one night this week.  It’s interesting to observe the pond as the day’s light fades.    The light on those reeds in the last photo comes from a nearby baseball field, adding a nice warmth to the scene.    Nothing much here, folks, just me piddling around with camera and tripod.

It was a big deal in the late-1970s for the City of Daingerfield to get trumpeter Doc Severinsen as their annual Daingerfield Days parade Grand Marshall.   This was during the time when Doc was the band leader for the Tonight Show, back when Johnny Carson was host.   I was glad to see that he’s 94 now, still with us.   Daingerfield Days is still with us, too, scheduled for the second week in October.

The sun’s descent tonight in Noack, Texas was as good as it gets.   That steeple is Christ Lutheran Church, situated along F.M. 112.  For good measure, I’m including some grain elevators.  

It seems like a good night for windmill photos.   A few from the past few evenings.   Our Blackland Prairie skyscrapers.

After coming home tonight, I learned that a dear friend’s life ended peacefully this morning, her battle with cancer at an end.    I knew her time was near.   When asking what I could do, she just said to keep taking beautiful photos.  So I did.  And I will.   These were taken this evening at Granger Lake, opening with a family observing day’s end.  

Occasionally, I like to check on places  to see how they’re faring.   And if honest, just to make sure they’re still there.   One of those is this old barn north of Walburg.   It’s been quite a while since  my last visit.   This barn fronts a Texas Century Farm,  an active farm owned by the same  family for at least 100 years.   This is one of those.  The land spreading out around it is serenity personified.  Very few power lines mar the landscape.   While taking photos on this outing,  a farmer I’ve met before  stopped by to chat.   He mentioned that the farm is still owned by two family members, but both live out of state.  The family owns it, but leases the farm.   My farmer friend also pastures  some of his cattle here.   His family also  has an old barn I need to check out soon.   That’ll be for another outing.   I do like this setting quite a lot.

Running an errand early this morning, I was attracted to the foggy day, taking  a few photos of bovine friends in Circleville.   Looking out my window just now, the fog is mostly gone.   Fog can clarify and simplify.   And longhorns have attitude. 

We were expecting storms last night.  While they didn’t materialize, we were treated to some marvelous Central Texas skies.   I wandered a few miles south, to the village of Coupland, still around 300 residents.   There are many things to admire about this community, but a favorite subject is St. Peter’s Church of Coupland, affiliated with the United Church of Christ, different from the Church of Christ.   Look it up if interested.   The church’s congregation formed around 1890, comprised of Swiss and German immigrants.   They met for years in a schoolhouse, but built their current church in 1905-06.  A fellowship hall was added in later years.   There’s a quote on their website I like: “We encourage kind debate and gentle disagreement.”   But I digress.  These images pay homage to the church, but also the painted skies.    And a fine-looking cow, too.