It’s been about a year since I last visited with Benny and Martini at the ranch of my friend, Carol Fox. Benny is the white horse. They share some beautiful Blackland Prairie pastureland in the community of Circleville. The light was good, but as Carol mentioned, I was also inspired by some very nice grape pie baked by our mutual friend, Liz Hobbs. Good food can charge one’s batteries! 
In the years since I started photographing the rookery at Taylor’s Murphy Park, there’s little doubt I’ve repeated myself a few hundred times, but it continues to hold my fascination. These are a few images taken this month. One lone bird, multi-colored, with a blue bill? Who knows what she is? She’s regal. 
A photo made in spring 1983, 4-year-olds during afternoon nap time at a nursery school in Powder Springs, Georgia. A slice of life feature for my newspaper, the Atlanta Journal & Constitution. 
Two variations from Prince of Peace Lutheran Church, in Wuthrich Hill. The clouds have been impressive this week. The first photo was taken Monday evening, the second one is from this evening. Finally, I conclude this post with a ray of sunlight! We haven’t seen an actual sunset here in a few days. It was a nice surprise. 
Posting too many photos at one time can be problematic. With that in mind, a couple of leftovers from Tuesday night storms in our area. There’s a little lesson here: take the obvious photo, but explore a little. Turn around and see what’s behind you. At Taylor Middle School right before heading home last evening. 
We’re expecting stormy skies, maybe some flooding, throughout this week in Central Texas. These are photos taken this evening as I rambled through areas around Granger and Taylor. Fuzzie is a pet groomer south of Granger. We like Fuzzie. The rainbow in Taylor was a gift. 
A farmer friend introduced me to this stretch of road about two years ago. Since then, I enjoy a relaxing drive there. It’s in far southeastern Williamson County, thus far left alone by mass development. Being fairly close to Austin, I understand the concept of growth. Please let it be smart growth. Much of it is not. 
Just some barns tonight, friends. Barns, like windmills and longhorns, are subjects that never grow old for me. 
Last year, during one of my many excursions to take photos of New Sweden Evangelical Lutheran Church, a few miles north of Manor, Texas, I happened onto an intriguing structure, just east of the church. Since it appeared to be on private land, I mentally filed it away for another day. Last week, a Coupland friend who distributes an area newsletter, answered the question. This was Manda School, a two-room schoolhouse opened in 1915 in the community of Manda, Texas, a town founded by Swedish immigrants in the 1880s. The community was named after Amanda Bengston Gustafson, the sister of the town’s postmaster. The school closed in 1962 as students migrated to other school districts nearby. In recent years, it’s served as a community center, but has been dormant for a while. This week, I joined a group of volunteers from Sherwin Williams Austin district, and Funk Paint Contractors, Inc., as they put a fresh coat of paint on the structure. Several groups, large and small, have made financial contributions to the structure. The gentleman posing for a portrait inside the school is Austin resident David Erickson, 77, who was a student here from 1948-1950. He’s now leading Friends of Manda School. As some know, I am a proponent of historic preservation, particularly in areas around the Blackland Prairie. Seeing this structure return to life is a gift to us all. 
Some photos taken tonight at Taylor’s Murphy Park, not necessarily at the rookery, just close by. 
