Most of us who grew up here know this date, March 2, as Texas Independence Day.   Some folks, like yours truly, left Texas for a long time.   Now that I’m home, I appreciate it more than ever.   The land, the sky, its people.   Presented here are photos taken this evening, except for the last one, taken a couple of weeks ago at Louie Mueller BBQ in Taylor.   The others include an early bluebonnet arrival at Berry Springs Park & Preserve in Georgetown, sunset at Zion Lutheran Cemetery in Walburg, and a Texas Century Farm scene, just a little north of Walburg.   A Texas Century Farm is one that has been in continuous operation by the same family for a hundred years or more.   While I don’t always go along with the state’s political leanings, I cherish the place.

In February 1974, my graduation semester in photojournalism at University of Texas in Austin, I teamed up with a classmate, Roberto, to create photos from paper negatives.   For the assignment Roberto and I toted a whopping huge 8×10 view camera around the UT campus in search of good spots to photograph each other.   The camera’s “film” was actually a paper negative,  a very thin piece of 8×10 printing paper loaded into the film holder, then exposed just like you would film.  The first image exposure: 1 minute @ f/11.  The second image of Roberto, in bright sunlight, was a mere 8 seconds, also @ f/11.   Since Roberto took the one of me, I don’t have exposure details.    From there we developed our exposures in Dektol, then arrived at final prints by pairing the paper negative  with another, thicker piece of paper.   What you see here are the results.  The first two photos are Roberto, the last one yours truly.   Back then, I was known to smoke a cigar or two, one seen hanging from my mouth.    I wouldn’t want to tote an 8×10 camera around these days, but it was fun back then!

What I’d really like to title this post is “All the Pretty Horses,” but Cormac McCarthy has that one covered.   Anyway, this is a field I often pass on my wanderings between Taylor and Georgetown.   There are times when no horses are present.   Maybe they’re in the barn?   Or perhaps they’re in a far-off piece of pasture.   It’s a large swath of Texas earth.  A few days ago, however, the horses were back.  So I stopped for a visit near sunset.   And stayed well past that.   A reminder, friends:  the majority of what you see me post are taken within 30 minutes of Taylor.   Perhaps you’ll see some things repeated, but it is what it is.   If money, and time, weren’t an issue, I’d travel to the far reaches of Texas and beyond.  For now, however, there’s peace close to home.

En route home from a grocery visit tonight, the sun was going down, and very fast.  Maybe it’s always a quick thing?    At any rate, I hopped in the car, drove near a windmill I like, and started snapping away.   This photo was seconds before 6:15.   A few seconds after 6:16 rolled around, the solar treat was tucked away for the evening.   There are times, friends, when I wish that my ethical considerations didn’t come into play, but photojournalism is my game so I keep it honest.   What I’m referring to here are the dang power lines.   Maybe they’re barely noticeable, but they still bother me.   I could create a false scene for you by removing those lines, but what I see is what you see.  

This morning I took photos at a Williamson County Master Gardeners monthly session.   The topic was pruning and caring for roses.   While the 2-hour class was very hands-on, with plenty of garden time in the group’s demonstration rose garden, the image that stuck with me was this one.   Normally, I won’t post floral closeups, but here’s the exception.   This is called a Knock Out rose.   Indeed it was.   This assignment was for the Williamson County Sun.

Just some head-clearing photos from tonight, along one of my favorite stretches of county road, just outside Taylor.   It’s the route I often travel from Taylor to Georgetown.   The ancient truss bridge spanning the San Gabriel River is always enchanting.  During what passed for a meteor shower a few months ago, I spent the entire night on it, wide awake.   The meteor shower wasn’t all that great, but the bridge is cool.   The other photo revisits the saga of the hanging jeans.  They’ve been here, in an area adjacent to the truss bridge, for several months.  Maybe there’s some meaning here?   I don’t know, but they continue to be intriguing.  

It actually reached 90-degrees today in Georgetown, Texas.  By the time I took this photo at Berry Springs Park & Preserve near sunset tonight, the temperature had moderated to the mid-70s.   This young 11-year-old was enjoying an impromptu bit of volleyball under the park’s beautiful trees with her dad.   The weekend calls for cooler weather, which might be a good thing since we’re still technically in a winter month!

Digging into old negatives is a nice way to spend a few hours.   I like to do this whenever time allows.   What’s really fun is to happen on images never edited before.   That’s what I’m doing here, with these lovely ladies who allowed me to make an impromptu visit to their home in East Austin in 1973.   Honestly?  It may be late-1972, or even early-1974, but I’m pretty certain this was 1973.   While I embrace the digital world these days, there’s something special about silver-based technology.  In other words, good old Kodak Tri-X film, with a periodic diversion for Plus-X and Panatomic-X.    Mostly, however, it was Tri-X, a most versatile film.    Back when these photos were taken, East Austin was very much a blue-collar working class area.   These days?  People of modest means probably can’t afford to live there.   I find that sad.

A few days ago, after taking in the new exhibit at Taylor’s 120Art Gallery, my next stop was our town’s recycling area, just a short drive from downtown.   En route, however, while stopped at a traffic light at 4th and Main Streets, the evening’s fading light got my attention.   Naturally, I pulled over.   The photos posted here were taken as the day faded away, leaving some wonderful warmth as it passed.   For the images presented here, I didn’t really leave the street corner.   4th and Main was looking mighty fine.

One of the tragic events of January in Georgetown was the death of 19-year-old cyclist Tommy Ketterhagen, who was struck and killed along Patriot Way.  Tommy, a graduate of East View High School, was a dedicated athlete.  In high school he played soccer for East View.  This morning, at the place where he died, a ghost bike was placed in his honor.   The bike was signed by family and friends  last month during a memorial ride from the high school.   Tommy’s cycling team, 787 Racing, spearheaded the effort to get the bike’s surface laminated and placed here.  His family and friends were at this morning’s dedication, including his 11-year-old brother, Brendan, shown by the bike.  This evening, I went by there to do just a portrait of the bike.   That’s included here, too.   Cyclists, and drivers, please be careful out there.  These photos are for my friends at the Williamson County Sun.