A few photographs from last night and this evening, signs of crop growth on the Blackland Prairie.   It’s been a tough few months.   Our land is parched.   A bit of rain arrived this week.   Every little bit helps.    I’m seeing wheat and corn crops now.   The opening photograph was taken east of Taylor tonight.   Others are from Friday evening, east of Granger.    Bring us more rain.

That little bird was determined to keep an eye on her surroundings as a Crested Caracara arrived on the scene last night.   The little, I’m pretty sure it’s a mockingbird, was likely defending a nearby nest.   No big old bird was going to invade the space.   The light level was low on this cloudy evening near Weir, Texas.   I was able to take a few photographs from a distance before big bird decided she’d had enough.   Photo quality isn’t the best, but the activity made it worth a post.   Note that I’m not a fan of using software sharpening tools that rely on Artificial Intelligence.   Many of you are using them.    My Adobe Creative Cloud subscription has AI tools available, but so far, I don’t go there.   Simple philosophy, friends:  if you miss, you miss.

Bluebonnets aren’t thriving in our area of Central Texas, but Our Lady of the Rosary Cemetery and Prayer Gardens had a few during a visit there on Wednesday.   After a detailed search, I finally turned the camera to the beautiful Iris adorning the site.  Growing near a gravesite were two delicate pink blooms.   If my search is correct, they are Madagascar Periwinkle.   Friends with a better botanical grasp, please jump in.   And the post concludes with cactus, joined by a fine-looking snail.   Just some tiny landscapes, friends.

Horses are wonderful subjects.   They get photographed often, but not always posted.   Let’s remedy that tonight with a few  equine portraits.

Most of these wanderings aren’t planned things, just going out the door and seeing what there is to see.   They don’t always come together.   Monday night, after aimless driving, I drove a few miles east to Thorndale, Texas, a Milam County community a few minutes east of Taylor.   I think the population is around 1300 now.   A venture there a couple of months ago wasn’t inspiring.  This time, however, I met an 88-year-old  resident out for his evening walk.   The first thing I noticed were his shoes.  Like mine, they were slip-ons, no need to fiddle with laces.   “I like your shoes!” I commented.   He smiled, continuing his walk.  After a few shutter clicks, we met again as he took a little rest stop on Main Street.   “Is it okay to take photos?” I asked.  He was fine with that.   Between occasional snaps, we chatted, probably for twenty minutes.   As night was nearing, we both decided to move on, he for his walk, me to get home to Taylor.     These photos were sent to him via email.     It was a good outing.

A friend’s question about purchasing a camera for her teenage grandson somehow brought back memories of one of my earliest cameras, a 1967 Nikon F.    Today it rests on a bookshelf in my office, looking very much like an old workhorse.    It was, and probably still is if one were to try it out again.  This camera had no motor drive, no light meter (we used hand-held meters then), no autofocus, no automatic exposure.  It traveled through University of Texas at Austin with me, where we found our way to Austin’s East 6th Street, before that street gentrified.    Motor drives were expensive accessories then.  For the first ten years, my cameras weren’t equipped with motor drives.   You learned how to get the moments at football games because you knew what to look for.   These photos taken this afternoon were made with a Nikon Z8 mirrorless camera, a wonderful piece of equipment I’m proud to have.   Would I return to film?  Probably not.   Today’s cameras are powerhouses.   It’s a buyers’ market.   Hopefully my friend’s grandson  will sail off to good memories with  his gift.   My old Nikon is now back on the shelf.   It will always be a camera, not a lantern, not a phone.  

Several good hours on Saturday were spent at the Jonah Community Center for the Jonah and Weir Community Sale, an event to raise funds for the continued restoration of Jonah School, built in 1922.   Posting local events doesn’t always make it to these pages, but I’m a huge fan of historic preservation.  My elementary school, Grim Elementary in Texarkana, Texas, opened in 1913.  A road-widening project led to the demolition of Grim.    Thankfully, Jonah School is still with us. Every Thursday evening at 6:30, free movies are offered in the auditorium.   Not all preservation is worthwhile, but this one is.

Monday through Friday walks generally last two hours or more.   During each one it’s not uncommon to depress the shutter button more than 200 times.  At week’s end, you might guess there’s a bunch of stuff to weed out for these posts.   That said, you might be getting bored with them.   That’s okay, but I’ll still snap them.  Remember, friends, this is therapy.   All photographs, so far, are taken with an inexpensive Olympus camera, much less expensive than many of your phones.

Drought and harsh weather have taken a toll on the rookery at Taylor’s Murphy Park.   Thankfully,  some birds are finding refuge here to nurture their families.   You’ll find Great Egrets, Snowy Egrets, Cattle Egrets, cormorants, herons, geese and ducks.   Some of them are permanent residents.   This collection was taken on one evening this week, just egrets and cormorants.

Headed a few miles west early today, a sunrise over a pasture in Taylor merited a brief stop.    This was at 7:34a.m. Central Daylight Time.   Sunrises, more so than sunsets, come on quickly, soon getting a fiery bleached-out look.   Thankfully, this was a seldom-used country road.   If you look closely at lower right, you might discern vehicle headlights.   Hopefully, we’ll see those fields adorned with crops soon.   Drought has been hard on Central Texas.