I really love photographing kids and their pigs during the swine show segment of the 75th Annual Williamson County Livestock Show, held this year at the Williamson County Expo Center in Taylor.  Included here are some scene photos from this evening.  The young fellow in the opening shot is congratulating her little sister after she had a turn in the ring with her pig.  Big brother also had a good showing.  The youngest competitors so far this year are siblings, ages 2 (her) and 3.   Their daddy said they’d been around pigs all of their young lives.    Just some scenes, friends.

Once again this year, Granger’s Mike Anderson has put together a  cotton Christmas tree for his town.  It’s 25 feet tall, made entirely of cotton harvested from area farmers.  With steel rebar used as a form, he estimates it weighs several hundred pounds.   Saturday I watched while he worked.  Ready to stand it upright, he sought help from friends, but in the end he used a crane to get the job done.   Cotton was stored in an old smokehouse.   Anderson says he used every bit, too.   It’s up and lighted tonight.   Take a drive along West Davilla Street after sunset and take a look.   It’s unique.  

Organizers weren’t sure the 75th Annual Williamson County Livestock Show would come together in this crazy year, but it’s on this week at the Williamson County Expo Center in Taylor.   Today I observed the poultry and rabbit competitions, also visiting entrants for Tuesday’s goat and lamb shows.    Thankfully, most competitors wore the required face masks.   I’m not sure why one young fellow competed without his.  It was nice to see an 8-year-old getting encouragement from her grandmother before entering her huge tom turkey for her first-ever event.  Her 17-year-old cousin helped hold the bird up for judging.    The competition continues throughout the week.   I’m glad these kids got to take part in their Super Bowl.

Before autumn  color moves along for this year, allow a few more photos  from Bull Branch Park, the awesome space just down the street from our house.   These were made over a two-evening period in early-December.   The cypress trees did us proud this year.  I love walking through this park.  

It might be true that I tend to get focused on a particular subject at times.   One of those is the abundance of prairie grass in this area of Texas.  I’ve heard it called Johnson grass.  Perhaps that’s right, but I like my terminology.    It’s not a crop, just stuff that grows in fields all around here.   If there’s a comparison, I’d have to say wheat fields.    As winter approaches, the grass will disappear, but for now, the fascination continues.  The last image is sort of a self-portrait, my 14-year-old Honda Accord coupe, my head at the top.  So there. 

A few weeks ago I posted some photos of Pedro and Lil’ Bob, the resident donkeys at Berry Springs Park & Preserve in Georgetown.   This morning, I got to see these guys gussied up in their finest holiday attire.    Folks stopped by to get their photos taken with these guys, a fundraiser for Friends of Berry Springs.   Volunteers worked tirelessly to keep them focused on the task at hand, but it was fun.   I’m surprised Pedro and Lil’ Bob didn’t eat their Christmas finery!   

When you’re driving through North Williamson County and see Holy Trinity  Catholic Church of Corn Hill for the first time, it can be a moving experience. Here you are, out in the rural countryside,  then  the twin spires appear.   Corn Hill is not so much a town, but an area.   The church came into being in 1889 by families whose relatives arrived from Moravia and Bohemia.   It is Czech to its core.  The current church was dedicated in 1914.   The first two photos are from their cemetery, one a little wider.   Another photo was taken from about a mile away, in the Theon area.   Perhaps the last photo gives you a sense of the quiet countryside that envelops Holy Trinity.  

I don’t get to North Williamson County that often, but need to remedy that.   It’s a picturesque community with a long German heritage.   Included here are two photos taken there this week as I wandered through on a chilly Texas night.   The windmill photo (hopefully) speaks for itself.   It’s a very Texas kind of Christmas scene.    The other photo is a beautiful place, St. Peter Lutheran Church.   It looked particularly nice this week.   The congregation was founded by German settlers in 1889.  Their first church was on this site.   The current building was added in 1930.  

In recent weeks, when time allows, we like to take little weekend drives around our part of Texas.   Sunday’s drive took us about 90 minutes south of Taylor, , to the community of Flatonia, a relaxing town of a bit over 1400 in Fayette County.   A longtime friend has mentioned the town many times on Facebook.   The picture she painted made this a good choice.   Since the arrival of Interstate 10 years ago, U.S. 90, which goes through Flatonia,  is a quieter stretch of road.  The railroad runs through town.    Flatonia was chartered in 1873, named for Fredrich Wilhelm Flato.  German and Czech roots run deep.   There’s the Lyric Theatre, which appears closed, but a sign on the front suggests a new life very soon.  That would be neat!   There’s the Olle Hotel, built as a private residence between 1896-1901, becoming a hotel in 1915.  It’s still open for business, with  a few nice cats around serving as greeters.  An establishment on West Main Street (also U.S. 90) sports a cowboy hat in the window.  It looks like a place for commerce.  The opening photo was taken inside what appears to have once been a hardware store.  I took advantage of an open door to step inside for a different view of town.   I like the hitching posts, once pretty useful here.  Flatonia  even has a newspaper, the Flatonia Argus.   I paid 75 cents for one straight off the rack.   It was a good afternoon.    Flatonia is a charming bit of Texas.  And America.  Thank you, Peggy, for this inspiration. 

On the way home from an outing this weekend, I had to pull over to take advantage of some really nice late-afternoon light along a U.S. highway in Fayette County, Texas.   That’s it for tonight, friends.   I’m behind on a few things.   Time to play catchup.