It was a cloudy evening when these photos were made this weekend at Granger Lake.    They weren’t taken at the usual places I normally go for images of the water.   The opening photo shows a man taking a few short minutes to fish before heading home to his family.  He arrived when I did, but left ten minutes later, explaining he just wanted a few quiet minutes to himself.   I get that.  The other four are progressions as the cloudy day moved into blue night skies.   The last two shots probably need explanations.  Both were made looking up toward the road that crosses the dam.   In the fourth photo, the light at right is a car moving along the road.   The last shot is a 4-second exposure as another car passes along the same dam road.   The last three shots  utilized a tripod.  I use one when applicable.   It was on this night.

Fog, like snow, has the power to simplify scenes, but except for visibility concerns, it’s much safer than snow.   Included here are photos taken this morning in East Williamson County, Texas.   The fog lifted by noon, replaced by clouds and drizzle.  If you were expecting a full moon photo tonight, we’re not seeing it here.

With our forecast calling for clouds and rain for the next few days, I wasn’t expecting to see a full moon tonight, but there it was, breaking through the clouds above Taylor.

Princess is a beautiful Texas Longhorn owned by a good friend, but she’s not always agreeable to being photographed.   This week, however, she didn’t seem to mind.   My friend and I both have an affection for black-and-white photography.  The two tighter portraits of Princess are offered in color and b/w.    A photographer friend once mentioned that if you give viewers a choice, they’ll mostly go with color.   What do you think?   Whatever your preference, Princess has style! 

Thanks to a sweet lady who allowed me to park in her driveway tonight, I was able to get a fairly good sunset image over St. Peter’s Church of Coupland.    And the moon was pretty, too.   Tonight’s Waxing Gibbous moon is 93.7% visible.   Although not quite full, the forecast through the weekend calls for cloudy skies and rain.  I document the moon when it’s visible.   The St. Peter’s congregation was formed by German and Swiss immigrants in 1894.  The current church was built in 1905-1906.   It’s affiliated with the United Church of Christ, not to be confused with the Church of Christ.

Bartlett is a Central Texas community I occasionally visit with the cameras. The community of 1623 (according to the 2010 census) resides in both Williamson and Bell Counties.  Founded in 1881, it’s about 24 miles south of Temple and 50 mile northeast of Austin.   I enjoy seeing this community when enveloped by darkness.  There’s almost always enough light for photos if one totes a handy tripod.  All but one of these seven photos were taken Monday night, when a Waxing Gibbous moon shone overhead.   The last image, with the Alamo Hotel sign,  was made last November.  I just needed an excuse to post it.   Small communities have immense charm, regardless of where in the world you find them.  My focus just happens to be on all things Texas. . 

In 2003, when “Secondhand Lions” was released, we were still living in metro-Atlanta.   It’s set in 1950s Texas, starring Robert Duvall, Michael Caine, Kyra Sedgwick and Haley Joel Osment.  Considering the setting, us homesick Texans latched onto it.  It wasn’t until we returned to Texas that we learned much of the movie was filmed in our area.   The truss bridge pictured in this post was prominent in the movie.   That bridge is just outside Coupland, minutes south of our current home.  It was featured in both the beginning and ending scenes of the movie.  For a couple years, the bridge was off-limits while repairs were made.  It’s back in service now, crossing over Brushy Creek.   The movie is part of our collection. .   It’s not a perfect movie, but worth watching, if only for the scenery.    These photos were taken Sunday night, a Waxing Gibbous moon shining above.

The recent unpleasant Texas weather has put me off my game for a while, but it’s time to move on.   Trains and train-related things are on tap tonight.   The first two photos hopefully give a sense of our Blackland Prairie landscape.   The last photo  is just a pictorial  rendition of Taylor’s rail yard, nothing more.

So it seems to take a while to shed ourselves of the snow and ice that’s been the scourge of Texas for almost a week.   Tonight I visited a cherished place on the San Gabriel River, where the snow’s remnants hold on, but not for long.  Temperatures reached the lower-50s today.  Sunday’s high will climb into the 60s.   Sunshine prevails.   The last photo is not about snow at all.  Just streaming golden light.    For many of us, the irritation continues.  Water issues haven’t been resolved.   Since most of us around here haven’t had showers for days, social distancing’s a piece of cake.  Stinky cake.

For the first time in several days, temperatures rose above the freezing mark, allowing the frozen irritation to melt into the history books.   These photos were taken near sunset this evening in Taylor, Texas.  Although the low tonight is around 22, highs on Saturday will reach the low-50s.   Rural images from our Blackland Prairie.   We’re still dealing with water supply issues, but we can see positive changes. We saw  the sun tonight.  That’s a plus.