This has been a good week to get outside late in the day.   The light, at least for yours truly, is improving in quality.  Oh, I know some of you cherish those extra snippets of sunlight.  You have more time to get outside with your kids, or your grandchildren.  Or perhaps take a horseback ride after work.  I get that.   But to arbitrarily govern sunrises and sunsets, via Daylight Saving Time, is unnatural.  Leave nature alone.   Here’s a few photos taken this evening: windmills, landscapes, one with a spider, and yes, another farm house, adding some warmth to the evening with a swell front porch light.   A good day ends on our Blackland Prairie.

Since 1974 I’ve covered football, starting with Northeast Texas high school fields for the Tyler Morning Telegraph.   I continued to cover football for several years in Louisiana, for the Shreveport Journal.  From there, it was on to Atlanta, for the Journal & Constitution.  Along the way, I branched out, covering major college football, and pro football.   All of that was fine.   But the most fun to be had was covering pee wee football.   This was (and is) football at its most basic, where kids learn the game before moving on, if they so choose.  These are photos I took at a pee wee game in metro-Atlanta, from September 1982.   There might be a temptation to call the images cute, but I like to think of them as little bits of life along the way.   The clothing styles might change, but the game goes on.

Tonight’s post is just a collection of wanderings through the countryside east of our Taylor, Texas home, including barns, a tree, a church I photograph often, a dusty dirt road, hay bales and a farm house, leaving the light on.  No, this is not a Motel 6 commercial.   Nearing home, I stopped by Bull Branch Park and visited the ducks, settling in by the pond for a night’s repose.   Starting to pack up the tripod, my eye noted the little stream that flows into the park’s pond.  So I stayed a few more minutes.   It was a pretty nice night.

While on another assignment last weekend in Coupland, Texas, I had the opportunity to step inside a beautiful structure, St. Peter’s United Church of Christ.   I’ve  admired its exterior for a few years, but Sunday afternoon I stepped inside for a while.   A little history is in order.   The congregation was formed in 1894 by Swiss and German immigrants.   The church you see here was built in 1906.   It continues to be an active congregation.  For a number of years services were conducted in German.     Inside the sanctuary almost everything is original, except for the cushions on the church pews.    This is one of the lovely Texas gems in my part of Texas.

Saturday morning I traveled south, to San Marcos, Texas for the annual Sacred Heart Powwow, a wonderful gathering hosted by the Indigenous Cultures Institute.    Much of the activity centered around their Native Cultures Tent, where dances were performed and pounding drum beats kept things moving nicely.    There was quite a crowd gathered here at the Meadows Center.   This was a pretty long drive from my home in Taylor, but well worth the time.   These are some of the photos taken for my friends at the Austin American-Statesman.

After playing tag with fellow grocery shoppers tonight at HEB in Taylor, we unloaded our items and I went for a short drive, but not far.  Downtown Taylor, specifically 4th Street, was the extent of my wanderings.   Taylor’s an old town, with a decidedly old-fashioned persona.   It’s a good place for a stroll, whatever the time.

Last evening I visited the Georgetown Palace Theatre for their dress rehearsal of “1776 The Musical,” playing on the Springer Memorial Stage every weekend through October 30.  Honestly, considering the subject matter, I sort of expected to be bored.   I’m happy to report that was not the case.   This is a lively, dynamic production directed by Clifford Butler.   If you find yourself in the area, this is worth your time.   It’s hard to top the Palace!

Arriving in Georgetown ahead of my Thursday night assignment, I had occasion to enjoy the subtle tonal qualities of the light as it faded from the Texas sky, washing over the town square, beginning its evening descent with warmth, then fading into a sweet blue.   The last two photos, taken scant minutes apart, are of the same building, along Austin Avenue, the first with a little more ambience, then becoming bluer, a counterpoint to the warm, inviting light of the town’s Palace Theatre.

With Halloween getting closer,  you can count on Georgetown’s  First United Methodist Church to have a good stock of pumpkins available.    This afternoon, a truck load of the orange delights came rolling in from northwest New Mexico, where they are grown on a section of the Navajo nation.    Church members were there to unload 23,000 pounds, covering a church lawn by the time the work was done.   Adults did a lot of toting, but so did the little folks, putting in their fair share of sweat and determination.    This pumpkin patch, on University Avenue, will be operating through October 31 with pumpkins large and small.   Funds raised are applied directly to missions, plus youth and children’s scholarships.

National Night Out is a nationwide event.   In every state except Texas, it’s held in August.   Ours is held the first Tuesday in November.   I’m not sure why, but someone commented that it had to do with our Texas summers.  In other words, it’s hot here in August.   Heck, it’s still hot here now!   Anyway, last evening went to a couple of block parties in Georgetown, one at the Stonehaven Apartments, the other at Christ Lutheran Church.   The first eight photos here are from Stonehaven, the rest from the church.   Stonehaven is part of Georgetown’s public housing network and always gets a lot of appreciated attention from law enforcement personnel.   I particularly like the photos of Police Lt. Amy Janik showing off her dancing skills.  There’s a lot of news stories about the missteps of law enforcement.   Some officers truly do make awful decisions, but the majority of ones I’ve met through the years are honest, hardworking and caring people.