In the early 1980s, during my time at the Atlanta Journal & Constitution, I had the opportunity to visit with this Atlanta doctor as he gave a 3-year-old the news that the little boot-wearing fellow would have to have a few stitches to fix that boo boo on his head.   On Facebook, I rail quite a bit about what’s wrong with healthcare in the United States.   The economics of healthcare today is terrible.   And most doctors I’ve come in contact with have an incredible God complex.   But this young doctor had a grand bedside manner.   We need more like him.

While I try to hold back on posting too much of the same subject matter, the rookery at Murphy Park in Taylor, when the area is active, is a place of peace and relief.  This week, I got up before dawn for an early-morning look.   The first photo was taken then.  The rest of the images were made about 13 hours later on the same day.   A story from the Fort Worth Star-Telegram this week was interesting, about egrets nesting in neighborhoods there, creating quite a mess.   Local folks in Taylor tell me the egrets have also dropped a lot of poop on their yards and homes, too, but I haven’t heard much about that recently.   They are a protected species.   Despite their drawbacks, I do enjoy seeing them.   As always, it’s therapy.

Last evening the clouds in East Williamson County, Texas looked ready to drop a load of rain on our fields.   Alas, it didn’t happen, but the skies around here looked mighty fine.   The first photo is Prince of Peace Lutheran Church, sitting regally on its hill in Wuthrich Hill.    The other is a long barn passed from time to time.   

This set of photos is one of those kind of accidental things that can happen on a given day.  On Saturday, I was on the square in Georgetown for another assignment.   It was also Market Days, held the second Saturday of each month in Georgetown.   By early-afternoon, feeling the effects of our summer heat, I nestled under a big shade tree on the courthouse lawn, cameras at parade rest.   After a few minutes, along comes a mom and her two kids, ages 5 and 2.   They apparently were feeling the heat, too, and decided to rest a spell.  Big brother had a shaved ice to help things along.   Little sister had her own treat, but soon passed it to mom.  She had her eyes squarely  on big brother’s frozen confection.   I like how this young fellow shared the treat, and his love, with his little sister.  No fighting, no arguing.  Just being sweet siblings.   This short series of photos sums up why I think community photojournalism resonates.   While I love doing those scenic photos from my neck of the woods, nothing beats interaction with our fellow beings.

The photos posted this evening were taken Friday night.   The fields of corn continue to enthrall, but add hay to the equation and it gets more interesting.  At least to me.   Once the hay and corn images were done, I headed home, but was impressed by the presence of a mostly-full moon peeking through the clouds near sundown.  

Although not a fan of the mostly-80s-style rock music that predominates “Rock of Ages,” the newest Georgetown Palace Theater production opening tonight, I have to admit the acting, and the action in this play are excellent!   The lighting work by Faith Castaneda, as always, is wonderful.   As director Ron Watson told the dress rehearsal audience last night, this is not a show to bring your small kids.   But hey, it’s a good way to spend two hours’ time in gorgeous Art Deco theater on the Georgetown square.   The play runs weekends through August 6 on the Springer Memorial Stage.

Baseball is a game I like a great deal, but never cottoned to having to cover the Atlanta Braves during my years in Atlanta.  While I liked the Braves as a team, the daily newspaper deadlines for night games was tough!   But beyond that, baseball, at its core, begins with the very young.   These photos were taken during baseball games in June 1975 during my time at the Shreveport (LA) Journal.  These boys were part of the 6-8 year-old group playing as part of the Broadmoor Family YMCA league.   These little guys had a lot of heart. 

The July 4th holiday, as it has been for many years, a very long day of work.  During the Atlanta years, I was up around 4am to either run, or cover,  the Peachtree Road Race.   Now back in Texas, the is still a long one, documenting the Georgetown Sertoma Club’s celebration in San Gabriel Park.   It begins in the morning with a hometown parade, mostly children in gussied-up rides, but with parents nearby.   After that, the day continues in the park, with folks enjoying themselves while dealing with the oppressive heat.    Yesterday’s high was expected to be 99, but I’m guessing it surpassed that number.  Scouts from Troop 405 were busy making hand-cranked homeade ice cream, a demanding task!   Kids enjoyed the sweet critters at the petting zoo from Fry’s Fun Farm, except for one sleepy-eyed 2-year-old who, said mom, was nearing nap time.    One young fellow decided to go shirtless, cooling off in the San Gabriel River.  I’d have done the same if my cameras were water-proof.   Nearing mid-afternoon, I drove back home to Taylor, edited and sent along the daytime images, then scurried quickly back to Georgetown for the nighttime fireworks show, preceded by a pretty good Elvis performance.     It ended up being a 15-hour day, but a productive one.  Stay cool.

Last night, while looking into something else in Coupland, Texas, I happened on a nice Blackland Prairie field just outside town.  That field had its share of cows, but there were also donkeys.   For reasons unknown to me, donkeys are becoming a presence in Central Texas.  I see them everywhere, but don’t always take their photos.  Except last night, resting on their hill of grass, munching on some of it, I reconfigured a little.   That last one, giving me the eye?  That was kind of nice.

The Williamson Museum recently opened a new exhibit location in Round Rock, the Williamson Museum on the Chisholm Trail.   And it’s actually on Chisholm Trail Drive in historic Round Rock.    The main exhibit area is in the Dr. William Mitchell Owen house, dating back to the early 1850s.    On Saturday, the museum held an early Fourth of July celebration, with watermelons in abundance, lots of ice cream, sack races, a skit performed by museum docents and tours of the beautiful Dr. Owen house.   The blackberries in the final photo were an ingredient in a traditional medicinal drink called shrub, which included the berries, mixed with vinegar and sugar and boiled to perfection.    These are a few photos taken for my friends at the Williamson County Sun.