When driving along this country road in East Williamson County this evening, I happened on a couple of very intent vultures.  For a few moments, I watched them from my car.  After a while, I got out and began taking photos.  Still, they persisted.  Finally, they moseyed on to other treats.  A few minutes later, the sun’s descent looked pretty sweet through a rail fence.   It was a serene night on the prairie. 

With the issue of Girl Scouts and Boy Scouts topical this week, I dug into the files and came up with these photos taken in Shreveport, Louisiana in March 1977.  The Girl Scouts were teaching a group of local senior citizens how to folk dance.   It was a lively and fun slice-of-life.   

Recently, I found myself lost in areas west of Granger.   To remedy  that, I’ve studied maps to get a better understanding of where the heck I’m going.    While this site is called “ramblings,” it’s good to know where one rambles!    That said, here are four photos taken last evening, getting to know some other intriguing  areas in East Williamson County, Texas.   Included are (in order of presentation)  bright, abundant wildflowers,  a white horse I momentarily disturbed while munching on grass, a nifty barn resting above a stock pond and finally, an old set of railroad tracks, long past their useful life, light shining through the trees in just the right places.    I do like to ramble, especially when I know where I’m going!

While rambling toward home last evening, I noticed a fair-sized bird patiently watching the prairie landscape while perched atop a power line.   Among the avian life forms I know are  grackles, egrets, herons, ducks,  geese, hummingbirds and sparrows.   But I’m pretty sure this fellow (girl?) is a hawk.   This pretty creature was intent on finding a meal.   Of course, I pestered her/him for a few minutes while watching it move along the power poles.   After a while, it tired of the company, flying through a field to parts unknown.   This was a quick and athletic bird, a pleasure to see.

For the past few weeks, when not doing “real” work,  wheat has been the focus of my lenses.   This Blackland Prairie soil is welcoming to any number of crops.  I try to keep tabs on all of them on these wanderings.   Wheat, with its wispy tendency to flutter nicely with our sweet Texas breezes, is among the most visual of what grows here.   In this Spring wildflower season, wheat holds its own.   These are nothing special, just a collection of images, beginning with its “green” time, watching it mature into a warm plant, almost ready for harvest.  The final image, taken west of Granger last night, includes what passes for a full moon, but you have to look carefully to see it up there. It’s the nature of clouds to cover what we want to see.  But I see that wheat.

This is a scene documented many times, but not usually with a wider perspective.   Consider it a Taylor, Texas staple.

Although not nearly inclined to give up my primary cameras, the ones that have supported us financially for 44 years, smartphone photography has its place in my life.  As you know, I’ve railed against them for quite a while, but they’re handy to have on my daily long walks.   They have severe limitations in areas I’ve discussed before, but doggone it, they’re light.  You never know.  I might get a point-and-shoot camera which addresses some of the drawbacks of a phone camera, but for now, it is what it is.  This week’s photos were taken mostly in Taylor, but since one of my walks was in Georgetown, a few of those are included, too.   By the way, my little phone has an HDR feature, utilized on some of these images.   The last three were on the campus of Southwestern University.  

Recently, good friend Carol Fox, a Circleville writer, teacher and rancher, let me know that the Bur Oak on her land was full of Spring growth.  I have documented the tree here a couple of times, but enjoy revisiting  this amazing tree.  We were trying to decide its age, deciding it was well over 100-years-old, most likely closer to 150.   If you do your research on these trees, you’ll find out they have a lifespan of 200-400 years.   They are very hearty, loving the Blackland Prairie soil, rich and moist, helped in no small part by the nearness of the San Gabriel River.    Here’s a few photos I took last evening, some with a Waxing Gibbous moon above, others just the tree.   It’s formal name, for those interested, is Quercus Macrocarpa.   Whatever the name, it’s special. 

Just up the road a piece from Taylor is a friend’s family ranch.   I visited there tonight.   These photos, not my real focus, were pretty serene.   So here they are, friends.  A Waxing Gibbous moon shines above the ranch road.  

This is an early 1980s photo taken in downtown Atlanta on a warm day.   A group of very young kids enjoyed a field trip together.   The daycare staff, knowing how, despite best efforts, little ones can bolt pretty fast, devised a long rope, attaching loops for each child to grasp as they made their way through the busy downtown streets.