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.

It’s been a busy week.   Yesterday, I spent time at T.H. Johnson Elementary School in Taylor.  Today, it was back to Georgetown for their first day of classes, for my friends at the Williamson County Sun.   Some fortunate kids and staff have happily moved into a brand-new Annie Purl Elementary School.  I won’t bore you with a lot of words this time.   The photos can do the work.   The only one I’ll point out is the first one, where a pre-k kiddo, 4, peers inside the new school before the doors open this morning a little before 7:30.   The rest you’ve seen versions of many times before, but school years at their beginnings are always wonderful.

This morning I was up bright and early for the Austin American-Statesman  to cover the first day of classes for Taylor Independent School District kids.  My destination, less than two miles from home, was T.H. Johnson Elementary, where approximately 375 kids in pre-k and kindergarten were getting into the swing of things.  The first photo, however, was taken on the way there, where a brother and sister were getting photographed by mom before heading off on their school journeys.   Covering first days in school districts, even after 43 years of doing it, still thrills the heck out of me.

Last night I’d planned to stay home and work on photos already taken, but then, just a few minutes before the day’s light faded, I had to scratch that itch.   Since time was short, I drove down to Taylor’s Murphy Park and paid a visit to the rookery.  Once summer is over, the bird population, while not going away, will dwindle considerably as nesting time moves on.  We take these opportunities while they’re with us, right?   Anyway, these photos were taken over a 30-minute time span before I moseyed on back home.   Near the end, I’m tossing in a couple monotone images.   The last one is only offered in black-and-white … well, just because.  Think of it as visual dissonance.

Last week, on a wandering evening, I happened through downtown Coupland, Texas, just ten minutes away from home.  There was a shadow cast on the wall of the Coupland Inn and Dance Hall, but my timing was off for a good image.  This week, I left home earlier, to get the desired result.   The little community of Coupland, less than 300 population, has been restoring their train depot, plus a caboose, but this piece of train equipment had my attention this time.   What is it?   I’m asking here because I’m not sure!   I think it may have been used for trundling luggage from trains.   I’ll find out eventually, but for now, let’s just say it was interesting to see the way it was this week.  The second image gives you a sense of what it really looks like.  I wish the white stone wasn’t there, but I don’t remove things via Photoshop, or any other software for that matter.  You see what I see, friends.   And in case you haven’t been paying attention, I like to watch the light.

This morning started about 4:22a.m., when Mother Nature led me to the bathroom.  Naturally, sleep ended after that.   By 5:30, I was getting dressed and grabbing my cameras.  The first stop, well before 6a.m., was downtown Taylor, to take photos of the Bill Pickett statue, which can be seen on the post before this.   By 6:15,  I decided to wander.  The idea was to photograph the moon, 88% full, but that didn’t work out.   That’s okay because I found a few other images as I wandered through East Williamson County, Texas.   Among those .. a stock pond, or tank, if you prefer.  Also seen: a farmhouse I’ve recorded a few times, and a lovely white cow enjoying her pasture.   The rest of the photos were taken of, or from, Prince of Peace Lutheran Church, in Wuthrich Hill, Texas.   That little body of water is just that.  It’s not for cows, but dragonflies and birds seem to like it.  So do I.   The last two photos in this post were taken at dawn.  Everything else came well before that.    This photography thing still holds my interest.

I had planned to photograph this bronze statue of rodeo legend and Taylor native Bill Pickett  for a while, but was waiting for the right light.  Less  than a week ago, however,  a friend and colleague from the Atlanta Journal & Constitution, Kent Johnson, died at 57  while on assignment to cover last Saturday’s Bill Pickett Invitational Rodeo, in Conyers, Georgia.    Pickett, who lived from 1870-1932, invented bulldogging, also known as steer wrestling.   Mr. Pickett and Mr. Johnson were both African-American.    The statue shown here was created by sculptor Adam Davenport.   Kent will be buried on Saturday.  I wanted to post this in his memory.   Godspeed, Mr. Johnson.