With terrible weather occurring all over the Texas coast, and beyond, it was a blessing to attend the Georgetown Parks Department’s annual Adults With Disabilities Dance, held Friday evening at the San Gabriel Community Center.   The dance is aimed at adults with  developmental and/or physical  challenges.   I try my best, when covering this community, to be respectful and kind.  Hopefully, I’ve done that this time.   While every person pictured has a story, perhaps the most inspiring,  shown in the first three photos, is 25-year-old Gracie Kiltz, dancing with her caregiver, Mina Dyer.   Gracie was born with Down syndrome.  At age 2, she developed leukemia.   The chemotherapy treatment for her cancer led to more developmental challenges, leaving her unable to speak.   Gracie has persevered, thanks to loving parents, John and Erin Kiltz.   In 2010, Gracie was named homecoming queen at Georgetown High School.  The homecoming king that same year was Jared Friemel, a young man with Down syndrome who I have had the pleasure of knowing and photographing a few times since coming home to Texas. The clown? That’s volunteer Lt. Jonathan Gilliam, a member of the Georgetown Fire Department.   He’s a really cool guy who doesn’t mind dressing up for any occasion.  At Easter, Gilliam showed up at the annual egg hunt as a giant bunny rabbit!    Also volunteering were members of the Georgettes, Georgetown High School’s precision dance team.   It was a grand evening.   These photos were taken for the Williamson County Sun.

My wife, whose grandparents were Texas farmers, advises that our abundant fields of cotton are called Texas snow.   That sounds about right.   So far, it’s looking like a good growing  season for cotton in what is the nation’s largest producer.   While I find it lovely, when my wife was growing up, she helped pick cotton.  This was back in the days before fancy machinery did the work for you.   It was a prickly process.   As long as I’m not picking it,  Texas snow is a fine thing to see. is a wonderful thing to behold.

Tonight, after some rain, I went in search of rainbows.  Those I didn’t find, but there was this decrepit old windmill.   Despite missing a few (most) of its blades, it was standing tall and proud in front of a backdrop of fading western skies.   More heavy rain is expected, the result of Hurricane Harvey.   For now, I’ll try to post peaceful things.

With high school football gearing up all over the country, I wanted to offer up something taken during a 1977 game pitting Southwood High School against Minden High School, taken during my days at the Shreveport Journal.   Back then, I’m pretty sure I was shooting single frame because I simply couldn’t afford a motor drive.   What it did, however, was make you think about what you’re shooting … and when.   These days, I shy away from covering football.  It’s not that I don’t love the sport.  I do.  What I don’t like, however, are the concussions sustained when over-eager high school kids don’t understand when a play is over.   Still, the drama of life can be found on football fields everywhere in the United States.

When I went to Georgetown on Tuesday afternoon, the goal was to get a computer inspected.  Alas, I didn’t verify the shop’s hours of operation.   It was closed for the day.  Not one to waste a trip over, I ambled over to San Gabriel Park, pulled out my folding chair, a tall glass of ice water and a book.   It’s a nice place to read, particularly when you can find shade on a hot summer day.   After reading a bit, however, I started watching the ducks as they foraged for their evening meals.   These photos are really nothing more than light-watching, but with a few feathered friends to fill in the space between the shadows.

Winnie Bowen wanted to celebrate her 85th birthday with a spirit of adventure.  That’s nothing new for this Georgetown lady.   On her 80th birthday she went skydiving, joined by her daughter, Shirley Bibles of Georgetown, and her granddaughter, Jessica Bibles.   Through the years she’s taken to the air in hot air balloons all over the world.  Her latest idea?  To fly in a gyroplane.  Winnie’s 85th was in June, but since she was out of the country, she postponed the flight.  On Saturday, however, Winnie, accompanied by daughter Shirley, and son John Bowen, of Corpus Christi, traveled east to Taylor’s Municipal Airport where she met gyroplane pilot Dayton Dabbs.   These Italian-made craft are small, and many, like the one Winnie flew in, are open-air.   This was just the ticket for Winnie, taking to the air for a 30-minute flight over Williamson County.   She had a blast!   I can’t wait to see what this sweet lady comes up with next.   These photos go with a story I wrote for the Williamson County Sun.

Today’s solar eclipse in the Austin, Texas area was only 60-70%, but that didn’t discourage Central Texans from going outside to enjoy the day.  The Taylor Public Library lawn was a destination for many of us this afternoon.   Through a grant from starnet.org, our little library was able to obtain a big supply of the special dark glasses needed to safely  view the event.   One young man, finding no glasses in Austin, made the drive north for his viewing experience.   We experienced a few clouds around 1p.m., sometimes obscuring the view, but all was good.  Mostly, I’m posting photos of watchers, but will kick it off with what’s expected.    If I’m around on April 8, 2024, we’ll be getting a total solar eclipse right where we live.   There’s been a lot of hype about the eclipse, but the way I see things, it takes our minds off political discussions for a while.   That’s a good thing.  These photos were taken for the Austin American-Statesman.

On Saturday morning, I was at Berry Springs Park & Preserve for the Georgetown Running Club’s Vern’s No-Frills 5K Race, held every third Saturday throughout the year here.   While I don’t normally cover this a lot, this one was special because  it was the 100th Vern’s race.  As the name suggests, it’s very low-key, with usually about 200 or so folks showing up for an event not dominated by t-shirts.   On this morning, however, 650 people lined up at the start.   The race is named to honor Vern Cantrell, a longtime club volunteer who died in April 2009.    Honestly?  It’s been a very hectic week.  When the club president emailed me about coverage, I balked.   But now I’m glad I showed up.  The tradition continues. 

Of course, it’s not been gone, but the corn crop in East Williamson County, Texas covered up my favorite old shack.  This morning, just after dawn, en route to another assignment, there it was.  Of course I had to make a brief stop.   Like the more-famous  tower in Italy, it leans, but that’s okay.

Forgive the interruption in posting.  The past few days have been hectic.  To top it off, my main computer took a nose dive.   Now I’m (sort of) back in the saddle again.  These photos were taken during the Thursday night dress rehearsal of “Always, Patsy Cline,” playing now on the Palace Theatre’s Springer Memorial Stage through September 17.   The production is directed by Lannie Hilboldt, the Palace’s musical director, and stars Yesinia McNett as Patsy Cline, and Linda Bradshaw (she’s wonderful) as Louise Seger.  Ms. McNett’s voice is elegant.   I’ll shut up now and just post a few photos from the show.   These were taken for the Williamson County Sun.