As major league baseball gets ready to fire things up next week with the start of Spring Training, I recall photographing Little League baseball through the years. Always a small kid, I wasn’t a good fit for football, but baseball? Yeah, I could do that. These photos were taken in May and June 1975 in Shreveport, during my time at the Shreveport Journal, the best little newspaper on the planet at the time. The sports action photo of the little boy stretching to catch a fly is my favorite action shot of a very long time behind the lens. This post aligns with what I also place on Facebook for what you might call Throwback Thursday. It’s really just old stuff which happens to be posted on Thursday. Play ball.
Last July, our family veterinarian, Dr. Dana Boehm, mentioned a cemetery that might hold my interest. The Shiloh-McCutcheon Cemetery sits well out of the way of traffic, residing on a hill overlooking Blackland Prairie pastureland, not far from the banks of Brushy Creek. To get to it, you have to travel along a winding unpaved road before it ends at the burial site. Last weekend, on a cold and misty afternoon, I paid a second visit there. The photos included here are from that peaceful outing. A little history, perhaps? The Shiloh community formed in 1848, beginning with a couple of stores, soon adding a school, church and homes. Families back then naturally gravitated toward water sources. The first known burials at the cemetery were in 1853, well before it was officially a cemetery, in 1890. Among those buried here are veterans from the Texas Revolution, the Civil War and both World Wars. These days, only descendants can be interred here, as cremations. While I wandered through this quiet space, I noticed a car moving very quickly along the dirt road. If the driver was visiting a loved one, he/she was in a hurry! It turned out to be teens, looking for an out-of-the-way hideaway to smoke an illegal substance. I’m sure they saw the old dude wandering among the graves, but they paid me no mind. After a few minutes of fun, they tore right on out of there. Two grave stones near the end of this post caught my eye: infants born on the same month and day of my birth, also leaving the earth on the same day; and a grave where the date of death was listed as September 31st, a date that doesn’t exist.
I’m compelled to document the area where we live. It may mean nothing to anyone else, but it does to me. When possible, good aspects of our history needs to be preserved. Tonight, looking for another subject, I was driving through the North Williamson County community of Schwertner, Texas, a small place, less than 200. In January 2017, a drive took me through here, too. At that time, on Main Street, I discovered the two old buildings seen in this post. The Schwertner State Bank building was built in about 1910, Leatherman Drugs about then, too. Tonight, they were gone. I can’t tell you the reason, but it makes me sad. While we save bits of history with greater frequency, we also take it away. No other words this evening.
When the mood isn’t right for using a lot of fossil fuel, I am lucky to have some very nice parks in Taylor, Texas. Bull Branch Park, a few blocks from home, is one of those. It’s nice during the daytime, but at night, it can really come alive. Oh, and I’m glad those ducks were cooperative for my long camera exposures. The one posted here was 15 seconds. The ducks were like statues. Thank you, ducks!
When I’m in a blue mood, it’s not a bad thing. Blue is my favorite color. When it’s manifested on misty, foggy nights like this, it gives me good feelings. These three photos were made tonight within a hair’s breath of each other. Enjoy your night, too, friends.
A few weeks ago Texas Parks and Wildlife was scheduled to release over 1200 rainbow trout into the San Gabriel River water at Blue Hole Lagoon in Georgetown, Texas. For whatever reason, the release was postponed, but happened on Thursday. Today, when I was looking for something to document on a cold and misty Central Texas day, I remembered the new date. When arriving at Blue Hole, I found anglers focused on their task. The weather, hovering in the mid-30s, was not a factor. The trout I saw were kind of small, but the folks catching them didn’t seem to mind one bit. These photos were taken for my friends at the Williamson County Sun, a dedicated community newspaper.
Beyersville, Texas. It’s a destination in the far reaches of southeastern Williamson County, Texas that I often yearn to see. The western part of my county is developed to the point that its character has been diminished. That’s happening on my side as well, but if you go far enough, you can find serenity. Here are three similar images, all taken from a favorite viewing spot in the community of Beyersville. If I mentioned where I was, you’d think me odd. That I am. But it works.
Did anyone else in Central Texas happen to peek outside tonight a little after sunset? It may have been cold, but these Texas skies were singing a nice warm song. The last image is an iconic statue near the entrance to St. Mary’s Catholic Cemetery in Taylor. Stay warm, friends.
During one of my early-evening ramblings recently, I was about to give up and head on home. Driving along a county road just east of Granger High School, however, I saw a light shining through a window, powerful enough to demand attention from two blocks away. Rather than going on home, I drove to the light source, which turned out to be the venerable gymnasium at the school. Since moving back to Texas in summer 2009, I’ve admired this building, but never stopped to take photos. That light, however, was a good reason to get acquainted. The photo session continued while I unpacked the tripod and took a few more photos, including one of the school mascot, a lion. Back home, I did some research and found out the gym opened in 1940, a Works Progress Administration project, part of Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal. From 1935 to 1943, the WPA employed 8.5 million Americans at a time when it was most needed. I was intrigued enough to ask for a peek inside the gym. Granger High School principal was gracious with his time, allowing me to snap a few shots inside. Although this gym has been replaced by a more modern one, it’s still utilized for physical education classes and other school functions. It cheers me that the people in this small Central Texas town want to hold onto the things that count.
Sometimes things are close, but we don’t see them. Passing through my bedroom this morning, light falling on a family dresser that’s been in my family for many years caught my eye. Light filtering through a window can be harsh on sunny days, but clouds were with us, providing a more subtle set of textures to a scene. While wandering the countryside is good, nearness is good, too.
