Below these photos is a story I wrote for my friends at the Williamson County Sun, but I wanted to open with the images this time.   Read about this inspiring couple from Taylor High School.

For the past few years I’ve wanted to produce a picture story about a high school prom, but the timing has been off.   Every prom season comes and goes in a blink.

Then Taylor and Eric  got on my radar, thanks to the Taylor school district’s longtime public information officer, Tim Crow.   

Taylor Marx, 18, and Eric O’Brien, 19, are students enrolled in Taylor High School’s Life Skills classes.   Taylor was born with Down syndrome.  Eric was diagnosed as high-functioning, with intellectual  disability.    Both students live in Thrall and have known each other for years.   Though living outside Taylor, they’ve attended classes in Taylor as part of the East Williamson County Cooperative.   When not in school, Eric works part-time for the city of Thrall, where Taylor’s dad, Troy Marx, is mayor.   

Taylor and Eric are guided in their classes by teachers Corey Graef and Debbie Jackson.   Eric  is a tall young man, reserved  and a little shy, but communicates well with those around him.   Taylor, explains Ms. Jackson, is non-verbal, but aided by an iPad programmed to help her with dialogue with family, teachers and friends.    At home, where I visited a couple of times, she has no trouble at all relaying her thoughts, with or without the iPad,  to mom Sherry , dad and her two siblings, Luke, a sophomore at Thrall High, and Ava, a first-grader.    Eric and his sister Ashley, a year older, share the same intellectual challenges, but are guided at home by their parents, John and Kimberly Shaw.   

Casting this column was more than just covering prom night itself.   I wanted to go deeper and get a flavor for what comes before the actual day.   It meant meeting  Eric and his family Cavender’s Western Wear in Round Rock, where he got decked out in grand style, with John and Kimberly making needed adjustments.    Then there was a visit to the Marx home on the day Taylor was getting acquainted with her new prom dress, mom and dad pitching in to help.    It was  charming to see the bond between father and daughter.   “She’s daddy’s girl,” explained Sherry.

As prom day approached, Eric picked out a white wrist corsage for Taylor.   Friday evening he was treated to a haircut by  Bree Fontenot at Taylor’s True Barbershop.   

Saturday, prom day, was busy for both families, too.   By early-afternoon, Taylor was getting her makeup and hair done by mom.   Their families planned to meet on the bridge at Murphy Park in Taylor  for photos of the couple in all their prom finery.   The threatened stormy weather held off, the rain coming just as they finished the  photo session.   From there it was up the street, to Main Street Intermediate School, where Life Skills teachers finished decorating the interior of a school bus that would take Taylor and Eric, as well as a few other students, to a restaurant in Round Rock.   

From Round Rock, the big yellow bus deposited the prom-goers at the Williamson County Expo Center, the site of the big event.   

When it comes to dancing, Taylor is no shrinking violet.  She loves to dance.   Once inside the dimly-lit hall, the couple sat down briefly.   Sensing his date’s anxiousness, Eric held out his hand and said “Let’s dance.”    They were the first couple on the dance floor that night.  

Eric, sporting his black cowboy hat, prefers country songs and slower dances.   Taylor loves it all.  During faster-paced songs, Taylor looked longingly at the dance floor until her teacher, Ms. Jackson, prompted her into action.   “Get out on that dance floor, girl!  You know you love it,” said Jackson.  That’s all it took.   

The night progressed with little time away from the dance floor the couple slowing down for snacks.  Watching Eric’s attentiveness to his prom date was sweet as he gently wiped away water from Taylor’s chin, keeping her prom dress pristine.

Two hours into the evening, “Footloose” came over the loud speakers, prompting  Eric to join in the moment.  He may like the slow songs, but he knows when to get moving, too. 

It was a magical evening.

Two scenes recently seen in East Williamson County, Texas.   While bluebonnets are nice, our wildflower season evolves.   The opening image was made a few nights ago near Coupland.  The silhouette was from tonight in Taylor.   I’ll leave it at that, no commentary needed.

On Saturday it was fun to photograph something not done in almost-50 years of taking photos, a tree-climbing championship held at Georgetown’s San Gabriel Park and sponsored by the International Society of Arbor Culture, Texas Chapter.   Climbers from around Texas, mostly professional arborists, tested their techniques and speed as they scaled a stately Live Oak tree.  The most impressive contestant, from Conroe, gave birth to her first child only two-and-a-half months ago.   The newborn, as well as the climber’s husband, peering into the tree, are pictured here, too.  I like that no spiked shoes were allowed, which could cause potential harm to a very old tree.  State winners advance to the international competition being held in August in Knoxville, Tennessee.  

051819 GEORGETOWN,

The weather forecast for Saturday was for severe thunderstorms.  With that in mind, I took some photos Friday evening near a favorite old barn.  It was almost full, still in its Waxing Gibbous phase.   Just after 9pm tonight, however, the clouds had moved on.  Coming out of an assignment at the Williamson County Expo Center, a succulent full moon, a Blue Moon, a Flower Moon, shone brightly above Taylor Regional Park.   It’s a wrap, friends.

It’s been almost a year since my Fathers Day story on single dad Dennis Levitin and his son, Mikail.   While waiting on a story subject tonight in Taylor, I had a chance to visit with dad and son for a few minutes.  They’re doing well. For those not in the loop, Dennis is from Copenhagen, Denmark.  He’s been living in the United States for about ten years.    Mikail, who will be 6 at the end of July, is enjoying kindergarten.  And still loves his long hair, but dad says it’s starting to get a little uncomfortable in our Texas heat.   They’re a wonderful pair.

While it’s true that I’m getting backed up on things that need to be posted, other things break in line.  Take tonight, for instance.   I was finishing an assignment in Thrall, had planned on some photos in Coupland, but then when going through Beyersville, one of the most unspoiled areas of Williamson County, Texas, plans changed.   Change is good sometimes. 

There’s something magical about watching one of these paragliders, or maybe paramotors, as they come so close to avian behavior.   It’s a wonderful thing to watch.   Last evening, when these photos were made, our prairie skies were singing an especially good song.    During the few minutes I observed this young man, it got very quiet.   After landing, he explained it was so because he’d turn off the engine.   And just glide.   How incredible is that?  I’d planned to do something else, but plans changed.   For the better.

Editing chores  fill the night, but I wanted to get something out there to show you what I’m seeing in Taylor this evening, the sun taking its time as it goes down above Bill Pickett Trail.   It seems fitting since our city council just added a new member, Gerald Anderson, a direct descendant of Mr. Pickett, a Taylor native and inventor of bulldogging, one of the most popular events in rodeo.

These prairie fields vary the crops each season, rotating what’s planted.  One year it might be corn, sometimes cotton, or milo, or, as posted here tonight, wheat.  Lovely golden wheat.  Rotation is good for our Blackland Prairie soil.   In fact, it’s a good thing for any soil in farm country.  Farmers know this.   Except for the last photo, where a field is filled with both corn and wheat, tonight it’s wheat.

These photos have been sitting on my desktop for a couple of weeks.   It’s time put them somewhere, either here or the trash.   It’s spring in Central Texas, when Indian Blankets are plentiful, thank goodness.  Trains, of course, are always plentiful.