Here’s some photos taken Wednesday night as I rambled around Granger after yet another day of rain. We’re soaked here in Central Texas, but the light that follows the moisture is often good to see. By the way, that’s the sun peeking through those clouds. 
In either late-1973 or early-1974, while still a student at UT-Austin, I lugged a 4×5 view camera home to Texarkana with the notion of using at Texarkana’s Union Station. By then, the venerable old structure, dedicated in 1929, resting its bones in both Texas and Arkansas, had been closed for quite a while. Trains still ran on the tracks in back, but the station itself was closed. Approaching it, I found two things astonishing: 1) No Tresspassing signs were non-existent, 2) it was open. So I carefully walk inside, setting up shop in the cavernous space. It was really spooky. After a while inside, I set up the camera in back for a few photos. These photos are just copies from large prints as I’ve not been able to locate the original film. Is Union Station still intact today? I think so, but would be eager to find out. If it is, no doubt someone couldn’t just stroll in like I did in the early 70s. 
It’s rained so much lately, I could stay busy just photographing high water, washed-out roads, general flooding, etc. But not tonight, friends. Time for another wildflower diversion. These were made Monday evening at a friend’s ranch. And before someone asks (again), letting nature take its course creates the sweet light. Filters aren’t needed at certain times of the day. I’ll shut up now.
Lately we seem to be getting more than our share of rain and thunderstorms. Tonight there seemed to be less rain and more electrical activity in these prairie skies. The opening photo was near Wilco Grain in Taylor, taken just before 9pm. The other two are in the Noack area, including Christ Lutheran Church. The skies were so dark and gray you may as well call those black-and-white images. 
Presented tonight are some photos taken at the end of a rainy afternoon and evening late last week. They were made on the night the rainbow was photographed. I didn’t want to go overboard on that post, but tonight’s a good night to offer them up. All are in far Northeast Williamson County, very close to the Bell County line. Wildflowers seem to find their way into photos this time of year. If you look to the lower right of the opening photo, you’ll note a dash of pink, Pink Evening Primroses sitting in the middle of a field of corn. A little west on the same stretch of road the water made things look shiny. The last photo, on a somewhat soggy dirt road, a Great Blue Heron ambled by. There’s a whole bunch of stuff that never gets posted anywhere. I’m trying to get better at that. 
By the time I got to Taylor Saturday afternoon for the annual Blackland Prairie Days festival I was dog-tired from hours spent at Pioneer Days in Round Rock. But I was on home turf, taking photos in the nicely redone Heritage Square Park downtown. Timing was good, in time for performances by the Guzman Ballet Folklorico, led by Walter Guzman. In the almost ten years back home in Texas, I’ve had the pleasure of documenting their dance numerous times. The other cool thing at the park is their gigantic splash pad, quite a popular place on a a very warm Saturday afternoon. It’s really expansive and one of the times I wish I had a drone to capture its size. Anyway, that’s it for this productive weekend, friends. 
050419 TAYLOR, TEXAS:
is one of our gems. Today, I attended their Pioneer Days Festival, held at Old Settlers Park in Round Rock. A free and family-friendly event, kids and adults got to experience bits of history. The park, home to the Old Settlers Association, has several historic structures, like a cabin built in 1850, moved to the park from Gabriel Mills and fully-restored. The young cowpoke shown is resting on a bed there. There’s a one-room schoolhouse, too, where a young lady wrote a birthday note to her daddy using a quill pen. A blacksmith demonstrated his craft. He has a day job at Dell, but this is his passion. The first photos in this post were taken in the gigantic old red barn. There I met a newborn goat, also called a “kid,” as it stayed very close to its protective mama. Then there were families making dolls from corn husks, a fellow making biscuits in a dutch oven by his wagon and a fellow who’s called Buffalo, welcoming guests into his teepee. That little tricycle got my attention, too. Nestled away in one of the cabins, resting under an old quilt, it was one of my last photos before heading home.
The skies have been rumbling on the prairie tonight, with a persistent rain and the chance of high water. With all this going on, I found myself sitting at a quiet intersection in Wuthrich Hill, watching as the occasional vehicle ambled up the road. The photographer in me was in tune to a possible bolt of lightning to document. In the end, what I got was that same road covered in light after lightning came, but without a bolt. It was still interesting to watch for a few minutes. 
Shortly before that divine rainbow came into being Thursday evening, this was what I saw along that same stretch of new (to me) road. Watch for good light when you can, friends. It’s not always possible, but make the effort. 
Getting lost is okay sometimes. This evening, after a visit to our Taylor library, I wandered north. Rain had been falling for a while, at times pretty heavy. Recently, I’ve made an effort to find new vistas to document. By the time this photo was made near sundown, the sun had begun to make a return, giving us prairie folks some mighty pretty golden light. And a rainbow. The road where this was made is a new one to me. If I’d known it was going to turn into a dirt road, another route would’ve probably been taken. Honda cars don’t fare well on muddy unpaved roads. Before seeing the rainbow, a serene field got me out of the car, shutter clicking away. This route is apparently not used so much, a good thing for yours truly. I was able to leave the car parked right there for about ten minutes before moving on. Not a soul was around. Except a few cattle. And a rainbow. 