A good friend,  a rancher (and writer)  in Circleville,  has two beautiful horses, Benny and Martini.   I’ve photographed them before, but it’s been quite a while.   Benny is the white horse adorned with one arresting blue eye.   Normally, when posting a grouping, I’ll start with the first photos taken, but this time let’s start with the last one, taken well past sunset on an already-cloudy day.   I like its moodiness.   And I like these horses.

A friend has a picturesque ranch in Circleville, Texas.   While much of it has been documented with my cameras,  a mesquite tree perched on a hill always gets my attention.   These are four variations taken on different evenings.   Miles is the sweet pooch who makes his way into one of the photos.   I have a love-hate relationship with power lines, but there they are.  

Something seen while passing through the Georgetown square this weekend.   She (he) seemed to be pining for her human.   Thankfully, the truck was parked.   I’m guessing her human wasn’t too far away.   It was a nice day to be outdoors.

During my wanderings this morning I happened on four friends fly fishing along the South Fork of the San Gabriel River in Georgetown.    Connected via their church, Round Rock’s First United Methodist Church, they enjoy getting together for these outings.   The San Gabriel and fly fishing go well together.  

No need for lengthly explanations for tonight’s post, just some rural scenes from North and East Williamson County, Texas.

I still don’t get the naming conventions for full moons, but tonight’s is a Wolf Moon.   The first three photos are taken on the grounds of the Jonah Community Center, which began life as Jonah School in 1922.   The post begins with a moon shot, but is followed by one taken a few minutes before the moon’s appearance, similar angle.    Of course, there’s an obligatory closer shot of the moon.   The last photo was taken a few miles east, close to our Taylor home.   I liked how the little body of water reflected some of the night’s delicate light.  That’s all the reason needed.

Several months ago you might recall I did some photos of a worn-out dome being taken down at Gumbo’s Restaurant, located on the square in Georgetown.  The folks who built it in the mid-80s were building Gumbo’s a brand new dome.   The Kentucky-based company put the new one in place today.   I didn’t know until arriving this morning that the new one would be lighted at night.   Enough reason to make another drive from Taylor to see that.  An added bonus tonight was the almost-full Waxing Gibbous moon. The first of the two night images has slightly-different color variations since it was taken when there was still a good bit of ambient light in the sky.  The last one was taken perhaps twenty minutes later. I’m really glad to see a dome back on the square.   It will be a shining beacon for years to come.   Note I also have an affection for photos with flags, too. 

The opening photo is the site of a long-dormant  farm a little south of Granger.   The others were taken tonight near Granger’s Saints Cyril & Methodious Catholic Church.   All focus on a Waxing Gibbous moon, at 97% visibility.  Honestly?  It looked pretty close to full.  The orange orb sharing the moon’s space is a street light shining outside the church.  I like the interplay.  

I noticed a friend’s grain elevator this afternoon looking really nice.  When stopping to ask permission if it was alright to take a photo with of tonight’s Waxing Gibbous moon (92% visible), I learned that this elevator is brand-spanking new!   I won’t mention here the cost of that new structure, but it wasn’t cheap.   Farming isn’t for weaklings.  

Fog is a weather phenomenon for which I have a good bit of affection.   When it’s very thick, as it was this morning in East Williamson County, Texas,  one must take extra care if driving.    The recent snow we had here was also ethereal, but it came with an element of added danger.   No such thing hindered my wandering this morning.   I rambled around for about 90 minutes for these images.    Many of you know, of course, that my treks generally stay close to home, here on the Blackland Prairie.   About the last two photos.  That’s a favorite dirt road. It looked nice this morning.   Even though a little muddy, I decided to take that road, mainly to see if an ancient farmhouse still rested there.    Thankfully, it did.   So many things are disappearing here.   Sometime in the future, I expect that house to be gone, too.    While I don’t yearn to live in the past, the history needs to be acknowledged.   As to identifying the location of the house, locals know.   Some sites I don’t identify for fear they’ll be harmed.