Come to think of it, there is a theme, isn’t there? The photos posted tonight all were made on a stretch of East Williamson County, Texas many of us call the Blackland Prairie. The opening photo is an old farmhouse I try to check on every few months, mainly to see if it’s still there. It sits by a dirt road at the lower portion of one of our expansive fields. At some point I expect it to be gone. Our wind is pretty strong. Each time I see the house it appears to be leaning a little more, but hey, it’s still with us. For now. The second image are some fine-looking horses photographed on a foggy night near Beyersville. The final photo is Christ Lutheran Church, located in the community of Noack. The venerable church congregation has been meeting for over 125 years. A couple of years ago, a tornado tore through this area. While Christ Lutheran sustained damage, the church returned to its members better than ever. This and that, friends, but with a prairie connection for sure.

A couple of photos made on Saturday afternoon, a day laced with fog. The prairie looks good in color, but at times a monotone treatment also has its merits.

This scene made its way to my viewfinder recently. It was taken in North Williamson County, Texas, but very close to Bell County. The cows, being cows, didn’t appear to mind the company. Another day in Texas, folks.

On a blustery afternoon in Georgetown, Texas, the Georgetown Police Department and Georgetown ISD held their annual “Chase the Chief,” a community initiative to promote health and well-being, particularly among our kids. Mostly I just leave these local events off my site and social media because so many friends are in other parts of the world. This family, however, is inspirational. Here they are finishing the 5K race together. Dad’s a member of Team RWB, a group dedicated to veterans and their families. He carried the flag during the race, but turned it over to his 8-year-old daughter for the last leg. Mom, at center, was running the race quite well. This time last year she was recovering from knee surgery. This and other photos are for my friends at the Williamson County Sun.

I can’t tell you how sweet it is to find new areas to wander that aren’t far from home. As our prairie roads get busier and fields make way for subdivisions, it feels like a daunting task at times. Tonight’s photos were made over a two-night period earlier this week on a fine little road in Bell County, Texas, but a stone’s throw from Williamson. The western-most part of the road is paved. After a while, pavement becomes packed earth. Some of my native Central Texas friends might well know this area, but I’ll leave it to your imagination. Suffice it to say the developers haven’t interfered with its ability to soothe the soul. It could happen though. Happy Texas Independence Day, friends.

In my almost-67 years on the planet, 45 of them working as a photojournalist, this was the first time I’ve ever photographed Drive Your Tractor to School day. Keep in mind, friends that this is Texas. We live in the middle of farm country, on the beautiful and bountiful Blackland Prairie. In celebration of F.F.A. week, Thrall High School principal Travis Dube proclaimed Friday, March 1 as a day for students to navigate their farm equipment to the campus. Among the kids I met were 15-year-old Lauren Pearson, who, with the help of her dad, Grant Pearson, navigated the family’s fully-restored 1936 Farmall tractor to school and back home. That tractor has been in the family for a long time. It belonged to Lauren’s great-grandfather in Iowa. In 2011, Grant went to Iowa and brought it here, lovingly restoring it. Another young fellow, senior Nahum Patschke, drove his huge family tractor to campus. School traffic at the end of the day prompted him to leave it overnight at school. Good idea, young man. Perhaps the most fun part of the afternoon was observing 16-year-old sophomore Cody Sells as he traversed ten miles of Texas county roads en route home. Since the tractor’s top speed is 30-miles-per-hour, it took a while. The scenery made it a sweet trip. It goes without saying, perhaps, but I love the land around us. And appreciate its agricultural heritage. Sadly, development continues to gnaw away at this slice of heaven, but in Thrall, folks there know who to stay true to the land.

Bartlett, Texas seems to be in my thoughts this week. Two nights in a row I’m posting from this quaint Central Texas town that straddles Williamson and Bell Counties. The opening photo was taken just after a recent sunrise and shows a now-closed cotton gin. In front of the gin is a wagon once used to haul bales of cotton. Even though the gin is long closed, it’s nice to see a little history left for passersby to see. That second photo, that tower, is why I took so long to make this post. The tower sits in a field adjacent to the gin. My assumption was the two things were connected. What I found out today from a longtime resident, however, is the tower is a smoke stack, all that remains of a cottonseed oil mill that was built in 1906. My contact explained that there was once a building just south of the tower. These days that old smoke stack attracts a lot of attention. Birds seem to enjoy flitting in and out of its top. The last couple of shots include the smoke stack at left joined by the gin in silhouette at right, followed by a simple evening image of the gin. Not long ago, a television series called “Revolution” filmed frequently in Bartlett. Another gentleman, who operates a granary near the site of the cotton gin, explained that a number of scenes utilized the smoke stack as a backdrop. As mentioned before, I don’t watch much television. Maybe “Revolution” was a big deal. One thing’s certain though. Bartlett, Texas is a big deal.

While many of our small Texas towns look great at daytime, when evening comes along, some of them, like Bartlett, just really resonate with me. Bartlett is a Central Texas town of a little under 1700 around 50 miles northeast of Austin. The town actually resides in two counties, Williamson and Bell. The main road through downtown is West Clark Street, pictured here. The north side of the street is Bell, the other side Williamson. These were made a few nights ago. The sky was clear, and thanks to less light pollution, you could actually see quite a few stars. I like that. Civilization is rapidly moving this way. That is regrettable, but inevitable.

You’ve heard me say this before, but the quality of light here on this Blackland Prairie area in Central Texas is exceptional and, this is most important, it’s serene. When witnessing such things, I’m bowled over almost every time. It never gets old. These scenes taken last evening are from a field a little east of Granger, Texas. Our light here is a blessed balm.

How about something simple for this Monday night? During the many years we lived in metro-Atlanta, I yearned to find dirt roads. There was one I visited there whenever I could. We’ve been gone almost ten years. I wonder if it’s still there? In this part of Texas, we’re fortunate to have a few of these rural routes around, like this nice route discovered on an evening filled with some good monotone clouds. And cows. There’s always cows.