The beginning of a very hectic weekend of work started this morning in a parking lot at Georgetown High School for coverage of the 22nd Annual Red Poppy Bicycle Ride, sponsored and conducted by the Georgetown Sertoma Club.   500 cyclists were already pre-registered, but I think they added another 200 or so entrants this morning.   Mile distances were varied, including 14, 28, 40, 60 and 100 miles.   Bailey had a good seat on the back of his human as they prepared to embark on a 28-mile ride.  Bailey’s been training with dad, but this was his first time for a big event.  Monica, a Sertoma Club member, was gussied up in all things poppy, answering questions before she rode in the 28-mile event.   In past years, I’ve traversed some of the course to photograph cyclists in their element, but this year’s ride bumped right up to the annual Red Poppy Festival.   Needless to say, I skedaddled quickly after the ride start in order to secure a parking spot near the very busy Georgetown town square.   Something from the festival might be posted tonight, or may wait until Sunday.   It’s a busy weekend!

A view this week  of a thriving corn crop growing near New Sweden Evangelical Lutheran Church.   Mentioned many times, but upon returning to Texas in summer 2009, that 104-foot tall spire was an inspiring presence for someone spent almost three decades in the snarls of metro-Atlanta traffic.   I’ve read it’s the most-photographed church in Texas.   Maybe so.    It’s still wonderful to see.

Taylor’s SPJST Senior Living  is holding their  their 22nd Annual Fishing Tournament today and Friday.   400 pounds of catfish were loaded in a huge tank on the center’s grounds.   This event slipped by me last year, but not this go-round.   Each fish was measured for length, then returned to the tank.   The event continues Friday, with awards, followed by a fish fry at 6pm.   Williamson County Precinct 4 Constable Paul Leal, joined by several members of his team, were on hand to help out.   That’s Constable Leal, trying to coax an angler to kiss the fish.   She was going there!   It’s a wonderful and heartwarming event to attend.

Some good time spent at Taylor’s rookery this week.   You probably know this, but it’s among my favorite places to be when not wandering around the prairie.  This post even includes a grackle.  Don’t disparage grackles in my presence.   I think they’re wonderful.

From tonight’s wandering in Williamson County, Texas.   Storm clouds began to gather tonight, bringing the prospect of rain.   A scene near Walburg near the final hours of Earth Day.

Most photographs from daily walks are offered at the end of a week, but since today is Earth Day I decided to veer the course, posting a few  photographs from this morning’s walk in Taylor.   As a Taylor friend said this morning, “Every day is Earth Day.”   She is spot on there.   The first  Earth Day was held on this date in 1970, about a month before I graduated from high school.   The planet is beautiful, important.  Embrace it.  Be kind.   Heaven knows, the lack of kindness is rampant right now.

Several years ago, I was riding in a combine with a farmer during his wheat harvest near Bartlett.    As we traversed the field,  the late-afternoon light made the then-golden crop glisten to beat the band.  Turning to the farmer, I asked if it was okay to let me out in order document from the field.  Knowing what a dusty crop wheat is, he asked if I really wanted to do that, but agreed.    I hopped out into a massive dust bowl, the back-lit wheat highlighted by the setting sun.  It was an impeccable sight.   My eyes, lungs and clothes, however,  were overwhelmed.   It took a week to get my body back to normal.   I haven’t done a wheat harvest since then, but have noticed a good bit of wheat planted this year on the Blackland Prairie.   Light loves this crop.  Included here are a few photographs taken over the last week, beginning with a small herd of deer dashing through a field, concluding with some early Sunday morning shots when rain added a shine  to those pods.

A grove of trees near the San Gabriel River is an often-photographed subject.  At day’s end, the space can be expressive, warm, peaceful.   From tonight.

On a mostly-cloudy Saturday evening, the sun graced us with its presence over an often-photographed barn not far from us.   My guess is this barn is being taken down, but perhaps not.   Maybe the owners are restoring it.   A friend in Jonah has actually restored his family barn, a delight to see.    Some who’ve followed these posts for a while might be inspired by  an  attempt to offer beauty, quiet and peace.    But a few folks know that I’m doing what I can to preserve at least a visual representation of things leaving us as the Blackland Prairie landscapes slowly fade away.

A photograph taken this afternoon while waiting for an Easter Egg Hunt to begin.   Never one to sit still, the feet of a 9-month-old baby named Otis caught my eye.   When beginning this photographic journey 55 years ago, I was somewhat shy about poking a camera in others’ faces.   My own feet, however, became good subjects.   I called them “footographs.”  Seeing those elegant feet this afternoon engaged that memory.    They’re still “footographs.”