During the years I’ve been back in Texas, photographing harvest times has been a wonderful way to spend my time.   Our rich Blackland Prairie soil is nearly-perfect for area farmers.   The one harvest I’ve not documented has been wheat.  For several weeks on my wanderings the wheat crops either hadn’t been harvested or the work was done.   Last week, however, I drove a little further into the countryside.  In Bell County I found the Martinka family hard at work one Saturday evening.   Alan Martinka, pictured in the opening photo (his cap is wonderful!) welcomed me to take all the photos I wanted.  Since they were finishing for the night, they invited me back the following Monday.  These photos are from that day of harvesting.  Other members of the family, all Martinkas, included Phillip, Matt, Jacob and Dave.   The family has been working fields in both Bell and Williamson County for generations.   This year they’ve planted 1400 acres of wheat, but even more corn.  But this post is about wheat.   It’s a beautiful thing to see.   In the almost ten years we’ve been home, I’ve watched as this land has been overrun by development.    It’s happening all around Taylor.   Thankfully, the Martinka family continues to enjoy some of the best space anywhere in Central Texas.

Our area of the Blackland Prairie, East Williamson County, Texas, experienced some severe weather tonight.  In fact, it might not be finished, but with these photos, yours truly is.  As I got in the car to troll around for images, word of a tornado warning flashed onto the radio station and on my phone.   It did get intense for a while.  One image had the appearance of a tornado, but if it was, it gathered no strength.  These images take you through the intensity, ending with a little bit of lightning, concluding with a rainbow. Yours truly is no storm chaser, but they are fascinating. 

The day was spent taking photos of folks beating the heat in Georgetown, Texas, first at Blue Hole, including anglers.   The opening image, taken early-morning, is a fisherman enjoying the day in pristine surroundings.  He got here about 7a.m.  When checking back at 11 he was still at it.  Another angler, almost 6, was on her first-ever fishing expedition.   Blue Hole Lagoon is closely aligned with the South Fork of the San Gabriel River.  It’s really a pretty spot.   The waterfall there is divine.   One photo is presented in color and black-and-white.   I’m partial to the monotone version.  It simplifies and clarifies what I want to impart.  The last couple of photos were made this afternoon at San Jose Park in Georgetown, where there’s a very popular splash pad.  It’s the same child in both images.  I can’t decide which is preferable.   That’s it for now, friends.

Just a few images from Thursday night’s dress rehearsal of “Evita,” playing through July 7th at the Georgetown Palace in Georgetown, Texas.   My camera’s shutter was constantly clicking last night.  It was that good, friends.  The last photo was taken outside the theater, where a Waxing Crescent moon made an appropriate appearance. 

There’s those huge sunflowers you see occasionally, the ones planted by folks in their yards or fields.  While they are exceptional, I’m also partial to the smaller wildflowers that adorn many parts of our Blackland Prairie.   Some farmers I’ve talked to aren’t really fans of the wild ones, feeling they encroach on their planting areas.   The ones I’ve seen through the years, however, appear to nicely reside in areas near fields, but not in them.   As was the case with these photographed this week near Bartlett, Texas.   These smaller ones, like our bluebonnets, are weeds, but they add a nice dash of color to our rural landscape.

Even before  the rainbow made its grand appearance last evening in the Taylor area, the light, close to sunset, and after the rain, was especially sweet.   Perhaps there’s a tendency to post too many horses (and cows), but they’re part of our Blackland Prairie landscape, just like the earth and the sky.   For several months I’ve been trying to get a decent photo of these horses a little south of Taylor, but whenever passing this field they were obviously visiting friends.  Last night, however, they came home.  I didn’t get off too many frames because the road was fairly busy (imagine that, right?).  The first image is preferred, but the second is out there for a slightly different look.   We live in good light land here, friends.

The first part of tonight’s wandering was filled with a heavy dose of rain.   A few things were found to photograph.  When heading toward home, however, looking into my rearview mirror to enter Carlos B. Parker Boulevard in Taylor, a rainbow had formed.  Pulling onto the shoulder, I made a few frames.  The rainbow quickly began to fade.  On the off chance it might return, I drove by Immanuel Lutheran Church.  There was the rainbow, diminished, but there for scant minutes.   Before getting in the car the rainbow had been replaced by sweet warm evening skies.  That church is beautiful regardless of how it’s seen.

Every year it seems like the fields of corn grow more prominent.  There are other things growing, too, but the landscape here on the Blackland Prairie is dominated by corn.   Most of it, alas, isn’t geared for human consumption, but rather feed for livestock.   That’s important, too.  Our rich black soil is good for growing just about anything.

The Blackland Prairie is adorned with fields of corn and wheat.  While all of it is beautiful, I never grow tired of seeing prairie grass at the end of a day, when light filters through it.  Something uncomplicated for you tonight, friends, photographed just a couple of hours ago in East Williamson County, Texas.

It’s another post without a specific theme, friends.   Tonight’s offering includes horses (yes, there are two in the photo) sharing their shelter not far from the Milam County line.    And a fisherman at Granger Lake, enjoying the serenity of his surroundings.   Did he catch a fish?  Who knows?  It’s not really about the fishing, is it?