There’s some other things I photographed tonight, but it’s not often I get several elements coming together: intense clouds, rich colors, lightning and a big old chicken. This is along a favorite county road in East Williamson County, Texas, the heart of the Blackland Prairie. 
Among the places I like to wander with my cameras is the little community of Bartlett, with a population, according to the most recent census, of a little over 1600, nestled in both Williamson and Bell Counties. It has immense charm for these occasional ramblings on the Blackland Prairie.
Last year, during a drive through the town, I noticed a for sale sign at a time-worn church on West Pietzsch Street. It looked haggard, but elegant, too. I wondered about its future, or its fate.
Recently, a friend mentioned that the church had been sold and it was now a restoration-in-progress. Naturally, I had to investigate. Stopping by in early-August, I met Georgetown contractor Shawn Brill hard at work, joined by Jay Shaw, also a Georgetown resident. When I inquired about the new owner, Brill advised she’d be down the “next weekend.”
So on a Saturday morning, I met Huntsville resident Kris Ruiz, the church’s new owner. Ruiz has a “day job,” as Associate Vice-President of Marketing and Communications for Sam Houston State University. Her passion these days, however, is preservation.
“I try to save a little history for the community,” explained Ruiz, who’s enchanted by these small Texas places.
Ruiz purchased the church, which I’ve come to learn was Bartlett’s First Christian Church, last November. The regal structure was built in 1890 and appears to have good bones, but needed much love and care. That’s where contractor Brill and his crew come in. You can find them there, working right up to dark most days. The sanctuary is massive, 1600 square feet. The stained glass windows? They’re original. Ruiz uncovers what was once the baptistry, a solid-looking swath of concrete which she’s converting to a shower.
This is Ruiz’s second historic preservation project. The first was in Cumby, Texas, a community of less than a thousand in Northeast Texas. There, she purchased the Cumby State Bank Building, transforming it into what is now a private residence. While I haven’t seen it in person, what I saw on its Facebook page is remarkable. You can see it at www.facebook.com/cumbystatebank.
But back to Bartlett. If all goes as hoped, Ruiz and her contractor will have this bit of Bartlett history up to speed by the end of the year. Her goal, as it was in Cumby, is to place it on the market, offering it as a unique private home, or perhaps a community center. Because of the large sanctuary area which will be kept open, she sees musicians and/or artists as good potential buyers.
Ruiz stresses this restoration bug is a love of things worth saving, not so much about profit. “My philosophy,” she says, “is not to make a big profit, but to be able to put money back in the kitty and do it again!” Talking to her as we stroll around the now-dusty space, you can sense the passion, see it in her smiling eyes.
When she can, every week or so, Ruiz makes the drive here from Huntsville to see how things are going. She and Brill chat and share ideas, a good give-and-take.
In my many years on the planet, I’ve watched as places, because of development, or so-called progress, don’t make through another year. We’ve lost quite a few, haven’t we? You know some, I’m sure.
It’s good, when possible, to keep some of the good parts of our history. Kris Ruiz is on the right path. 
Year after year, the state of Texas has been the top cotton producer in the United States. In 2017 farmers harvested 8,830,000 bales. The next closest state was Georgia, with a little over 2,500,000 bales. My Norman’s Crossing farming family, the Boehms’, including Troy, his wife Jeni, their sons Gage and Garet, and Troy’s sister, Dr. Dana Boehm, advise that even though it’s doing well here in Central Texas, the harvests are more abundant in the southernmost part of the state. I just know I enjoy seeing it each year. The Boehm family began harvesting their cotton this week in what will be a two-week process, Troy estimates. These photos were taken over a three-evening period. The first two nights were before the actual harvesting, which began on Monday. I do love our “snow.” 
As late-afternoon settled in over the prairie, storm clouds gathered. A client asked that I keep an eye out for serious weather in East Williamson County. A cow, oblivious to the air, foraged on. A pair of donkeys sought shelter under a grove of trees. 
We did encounter some ominous-looking cloud patterns, and an occasional burst of lightning, but in the end, the dissonance, what there was of it, moved to our southwest, leaving behind a beautiful early-evening. Too warm, of course, but nice to see.
Perhaps I spend too much time expounding on the serene calming effect of blue, but I do embrace it when I can. Thankfully, daytime hours are getting shorter, bringing back the sweetness of the night. The opening photo is an unpaved road near Weir, Texas, the other image, taken tonight, is a Waxing Gibbous moon shining above Norman’s Crossing. While all colors are good, I do embrace the blue. 
While rambling through North Williamson County recently, this little red barn came into view. At times I wax poetic about something I see, but this is simply a nice little barn … and a nice setting, not far from Walburg, Texas. 
A recent bit of wandering led me to North Williamson County, Texas, where I took in the good skies, and the long view, of Holy Trinity Catholic Church, in New Corn Hill. Tonight’s photos are taken from almost the same angle, a county road southeast of the church. The first night was cloudy, the second night more stormy. I always find it interesting to hear other states refer to themselves as “Big Sky Country.” We have that here. 
It’s been a full day of work! I rose early and drove to Annie Purl Elementary School in Georgetown for the the city’s first day of classes. While August 16 seems early, back in Georgia, some of my friends’ kids began two weeks ago. The start dates are all over the place, aren’t they? The Taylor kids begin on Monday, as does City of Austin. Bartlett, up the road a bit, doesn’t start until August 27th. I sort of which all districts would revert to the after-Labor Day rule. Anyway, these photos were taken this morning. I always enjoy first days, such a wide range of emotions for all concerned, like the little guy in the opening three photos, a kindergartener who really wanted to stay with mama. Who can blame him? These were taken for my friends at the Williamson County Sun.
The photos offered here tonight have not a thing to do with each other, but I feel compelled to place them in the same place. Go figure. The first, photographed maybe two years ago, is a little north of Walburg, Texas. This wonderful stretch of Blackland Prairie land is a Texas Century Farm, part of the Texas Family Land Heritage Program, which certifies the farm has been maintained in continuous operation for over a hundred years by the same family. The sign at the front gate says they are the Riske family. I don’t know them, but I am quite taken with this view. The other photo, presented in black-and-white, was taken a few days ago at a church, done while working on something else. For whatever reason, I kept staring into this basement room, where this old upright piano gathered morning light nicely over its surface. A church member, being helpful, asked “would you like to open the cover? ” To which I replied “No, ma’am, but thank you.” It is what it is.
These photos don’t require much explanation, just simple images from Bull Branch Park in Taylor, Texas, just down the street from our house. I like the gentleness of Bull Branch Creek, and course the cypress trees. The first couple are very similar, only slight differences, but I think I like the first one. The last photo has just a hint, in the upper left corner, of tonight’s Waxing Crescent moon, 18.4% visible. 
