We can get serious rain and flooding in Texas.  Songs have been written about this through the years.  Sunday, however, was a day adorned with what I’d call a gentle rain, beginning in the late-morning, then continuing throughout the day, dissipating a little after nightfall.     I got in a little walk, toting an umbrella, which was used sparingly as the drops fell on my shoulders.    With the moisture came a cold front, keeping the temperatures in the low-mid 70s.   Near the end of daylight, which arrived earlier with the time change, I drove down the street to Bull Branch Park in Taylor.   The added moisture created a landscape without a human soul during my time there, almost an hour.  It was the ducks, geese and yours truly.  I like the pattering of drops on the filling stream, and the shine on the park’s hiking path.  Not satisfied, I drove downtown, thinking about the black benches there.  Black is the absence of color, but there’s always a dash of tonality added from street lights, passing cars and rain drops.    As election day nears in this divisive season, here’s my contribution to peaceful behavior.

This is a companion to the last post, where the photos were taken in the cloudy pre-dawn hours.  These are from this evening, around 7pm.   If you do the math, that makes for a long day, but one I enjoyed.   The little shack from the morning post is shown here tonight.  And I particularly enjoy the fact that clocks are set back tonight, bringing Daylight Saving Time to an end for this year.   I do not, nor have I ever, liked Daylight Saving Time.  It’s an attempt to manage light.  That needs to be left to a higher power.

En route to Georgetown this morning, I chose to get a very early start, pulling out of my Taylor driveway about 40 minutes ahead of dawn.   On this cloudy, drizzly morning there would be no expectation of a glorious sunrise, but there was  a simplicity to the day’s beginning.   The first two photos, both along County Road 366, give that blue tonality I like so much.  You get that color at opposite ends of a day.  I find it a relaxing thing to see.   The first image is a little collection of trees joined by some outbuildings.  I’ve always liked how they seem to fit together well, but have not made an image before.  The second image, just up the road, is an old shack sitting in a farmer’s empty field.  The shack is empty, too, and has been for years.   The last photo, right at what would be dawn this morning, is in Jonah, a decrepit windmill standing sentry in another fallow field.   It’s a day for uncluttered imagery, and just maybe quiet grace.

Texas Highway 29, the section between Taylor and Georgetown, in East Williamson County, Texas, is one of my favorite drives.   I never tire of it, day or not.  This one was taken last evening in Jonah, as I ambled along toward home.   The light in the far distance is Taylor, not a metropolis, but big enough.

After a rain shower moved through Williamson County, Texas on Thursday afternoon,  I made a drive over to Booty’s Road Park.  “Booty’s” is an odd name for a park, but perhaps it’s named after someone named Booty?    Although there IS a park, with a pavilion, and restrooms, I see it as a walking trail.   Indeed, it’s a part of the San Gabriel River trail system,  which meanders  through Georgetown for twenty-something miles.    Usually, on pulling into the parking lot, my cell phone signal becomes non-existent, a tiny blessing.   Sometimes we need to escape the distractions and look for other inspirations.  There’s a section of the trail, about a ten-minute walk from the parking lot, that I love.  It has a tiny waterfall ensconced into the rock formations right next to the upper trail.   When you turn around, there’s a little  valley, where water flows through the plant life.   I don’t know if you’d call it a creek, or stream, or whatever.  My sense is that it flows into the San Gabriel River.  Either way, it’s nice to see.   I think of it as liquid silver, making its way through the lichen.  On this trip, I noticed a little bird house on top of one of the rock formations, obviously placed there by a fan of the area.  Hopefully, visitors will leave it be.   This is a nice place.

From time to time I’ll toss something old into the mix.   My great-uncle Harry was a farmer in Northeast Texas, Cass County.   Born in 1898, he lived on the family farm until his death, at age 97.   He never married, living with his two sisters, my great aunts Bip and Sal.   These photos are from 1983 and 1985.   One, taken in 1983, is Uncle Harry with my son, Austin, 7 at the time.   The closeup photo was also in 1983.  The plowing photos are from June 1985.  Throughout his life Uncle Harry was always working, always moving.   His brother, Carl Bradley, was my grandfather, but died before I was old enough to know who he was.   My father’s father died when daddy was just a toddler.   Uncle Harry was, for all practical purposes, my grandfather.  He’s one of the few people I miss a lot.

Bull Branch Park, less than a mile from our home in Taylor, Texas, is a place I visit a lot, mostly during daily long walks through town.   The walks are meant to be stress-reducing and healthy, but having nice scenery is a blessing, too.   From time to time, you’ll see posts from this park, often including the ducks that call the pond their home.  Also meandering  through the park, feeding into the pond, is a pleasant stream, or creek if you prefer.   I prefer “stream.”   The park is a place I enjoy visiting with a camera.  As is often the way of things, I like it when the sun is fading, or absent entirely.   Last evening, close to sundown, I made the short drive to Bull Branch.   As light faded, the stream took on a different character, evolving with the diminishing light. Most of these photos were taken without a tripod because I wanted to stay mobile.  Even an old fellow like yours truly did a fair job keeping things steady at some very slow shutter speeds!    After a while, a little before 8pm, I went to the car for that tripod.   The photos on the weathered dock over the pond?  Those are tripod images.  If you look at the ducks, you’ll notice some movement.   Even when bedded down for the night, these birds are apt to move a little.  Clouds were rolling in before I left the dock, creating some interesting night skies.   Anyway, consider these images the beginning of a relationship with this little park’s water.    I do wonder, by the way, how the park got its name.  “Bull Branch” sounds dissonant, but stress goes away  when I visit, never  a bad thing.

Anyone who follows my work knows I have a love affair with the moon.   They don’t have to be full moons, super moons, or even Harvest Moons to get my attention.   This one was taken above Bull Branch Park last evening.  Obviously, it has room to grow in stature!

Main Street in Georgetown, Texas includes a section of beautiful and historic homes.  Each Halloween, the neighborhood celebrates the occasion, drawing families from well beyond the town’s borders.  Included here are some photos from this evening.  One young lady was adorned in a taco outfit, hand-made by her mommy.    As time allows, I may post a few more on Tuesday. 

161031 GEORGETOWN, TEXAS: Going with a Star Wars theme during Halloween along Main Street on Monday night were (left to right) Wilson Collins, 6, his sister, Shelby Collins, 4, their mom, Jaime Sage, as Princess Leia, and dad, James Collins, as Jabba the Hut. They live in Georgetown. Photo by Andy Sharp.

Sometimes when I review an assignment, something new finds its way into my field of vision.  These young fellows were hanging out on Main Street early Saturday evening at the Taylor Car Show.   As a black and white image, for whatever reason, they made me think of the old “Our Gang” series.    I could’ve done without the mom being in the photo, but it is what it is.