During my time working for the Atlanta Journal & Constitution,  I spent a long day in the North Georgia mountains, at what was then called Mountainview Farm for Retarded Citizens.   35 years ago, when these photos were taken (1982)  this was accepted terminology for those with intellectual or developmental disabilities.    Despite the name, Mountainview was a place where people could live and work together in a really lovely environment.   Family members were regular visitors to Mountainview.    Assisting where needed was a professional staff available to help residents as the need arose.  This type of group living was pretty innovative for its time.   Today, in our area of Central Texas, there are wonderful places like Down Home Ranch, near Elgin.    I’ve been on assignment there for the Austin American-Statesman and find it to be an amazing place as well.   A Google search didn’t find Mountainview anywhere I looked.   It makes me wonder if it’s still there.    At any rate, here are a few photos from my day at Mountainview.

We’ve had a couple of days of steady rain here on the Blackland Prairie.   While  I enjoy the cloud patterns that  adorn the skies above these lovely cows, area farmers are probably getting their fill of rain.   For those in agriculture,  it’s a precarious balance between not enough and too much.    But I do admire these cows.

I spent a large chunk of Saturday on the campus of Southwestern University documenting their 13th Annual Southwestern-SU Native Spring Powwow.   These are mostly presented in color, but a few black and whites are thrown in to break up things a little.    There are far too many photos here, but any opportunity I have to display Native American culture on my site is a grand thing. 

Immanuel Lutheran Church, just west of Taylor, Texas, is one of those places I come back to time and again, especially when a full moon is expected.   For a long time, I’ve been trying to get a photo of the “church on the hill,” as it’s called around here, from a distance, but so far that hasn’t happened like I wanted.   Last night, when pursuing that idea again, I was happy to see my old friend come peeking into the early-evening sky.  The sun hadn’t quite set, adding a golden glow to the windows at the church’s entrance.   A couple of other photos are thrown in, too, but my pick for this time around is that first one in this post.   Note what I say about the moon …. every moon, in whatever form, is beautiful.  It can be just a sliver, waxing gibbous, or super.   I’ve decided the so-called “super moon” is just another sweet moon image.  

Georgetown Parks & Recreation held their annual Easter egg hunt, Eggstravaganza, at San Gabriel Park in Georgetown, Texas on a beautiful Saturday morning.   Kids toted their baskets, their parents, and their grandparents, to the park for all the fun.   On hand was a gigantic Easter bunny.  The older kids didn’t seem to mind this big old rabbit, but the really young ones were a wee bit unnerved.   I happen to know the rabbit.   He’s a good fellow, but that rabbit suit was indeed a bit scary.

Whenever possible, I find rising early is a gift.   When rising well before dawn on the Blackland Prairie, it’s quite special.   This morning, I had assignments in Georgetown, a few minutes west.  Add to that the fact that my wife was having a garage sale.  I don’t know how you feel about garage sales, but for me they’re something to avoid.  Thus, I left about 6:30.   Sunrise was to be a few minutes past 7.   Just because it’s fun, I begin this post with one of my “over the car” photos.  The opening photo was about 6:36.   Just up another road, there was a horse I’ve visited before, but not so early.  There he was, about twenty minutes before sunrise, munching on dewy grass.    Continuing west, it seemed like a good idea to stop in Jonah, at the community center which began its life as Jonah School, in 1922.  This was scant minutes before sunrise.  Motoring along, that big old sun started popping up.   Naturally, I stopped, in the middle of a country road.  Country roads are sweet things.   Even if folks come behind you, they seem to get that it’s alright to stop and watch a sunrise.  

There’s no central theme to the photos posted on this Friday night, only that they are in Taylor, Texas.  Included:  a flag billows in front of an almost-full moon, the Taylor National Bank building, with another hint of the moon.   Fast-forward to Murphy Park, where the birds are starting to do their Spring gathering in and around the lake’s rookery. 

This wildflower thing might be old hat by now, but as a friend mentioned this week, it’s hard not to photograph them!   These are a few I took last evening at Our Lady of the Rosary Cemetery and Prayer Gardens in Georgetown, an occasional stopping place, even when no flowers are in residence.   Alert visitors to the site might note that the last photo is not wildflowers at all, but just sweet red roses draped nicely around the cemetery’s Resurrection cross.  If you look closely, the sky has a lunar presence, too.

These are just some photos taken while wandering around last evening on the Blackland Prairie.   The opening photo does a pretty good job of summarizing the lay of the land around here.    It’s land I enjoy seeing most every day.  

For the start of today’s Masters tournament in Augusta, Georgia, I’m hearing there’s a lot of wind.   When I covered the opening day of the 1982 Masters, however, the skies were filled with rain.   Unless there’s really life-threatening weather afoot, this tournament plays on.  Photo coverage was challenging.   In fact, it always is.   The Masters is one of those tournaments where photographers are not allowed to work an arm’s length inside the ropes on greens.   What does that mean, you ask?   Well, folks, it means you have to rely on the kindness of strangers, the huge galleries, to allow you access.    It’s a tough booger to document.   I’ve never been comfortable with pushing my way through crowds, particularly ones who’ve likely worked hard for years to get tickets.   At any rate, the first photo is Arnold Palmer, who died in September.  The start of the 2017 tournament honored Arnie.  Also included in this post are two Texans, Byron Nelson and Lee Trevino.   The photo of Trevino was a tough one.  Shadow detail was non-existent under his ball cap, but I liked that he was poking that big tongue out.    Thank God there are people today who love covering the Masters.   Although I love golf, for me it was one royal pain.