Although your calendars will tell you that summer officially begins later this month, in Central Texas, folks, it’s here now.   After the usually-quick spring season, we went right into some good old Texas heat, really beginning in April.   So it’s a good thing the City of Georgetown’s Parks Department has some very fine, reasonably-priced city pools where you can beat the heat and have fun in the process, perhaps bond with your kids, or, like the 4-year-old young lady near the end of this post, with your grandpa.   These are some of the photos taken this week for my Williamson County Sun friends.  Stay cool, friends.

Just a little drive near home tonight after finishing up a paying assignment in Salado.   What is about egrets and cattle?  Why are the birds attracted to livestock?   And how do the cows feel about it?    One photo has no birds, just a mom and her calf.   Have a good night.

On Saturday night in Georgetown, Texas, a concert was planned, part of the 2016 Festival of the Arts.   The weather, however, had left San Gabriel Park quite soaked.   Saturday afternoon, the Georgetown High School music ensembles, the evening’s scheduled performers, decided to cancel.   That didn’t stop a handful of people from showing up, for fireworks, which did not cancel.     A brief shower did come through a little before 8p.m.  People scurried, and actually left.   4-year-old identical twins Ella and Anna Daniel, however, were there with their mom, dad and grandparents.    They like the park, and fireworks, too.    The Crockett family, including Dale, his wife Sherry, and their sons, Luke and Joshua, took in the colorful lights about 9:30 Saturday night.

Cameron James Sharp, our grandson, lives over 900 miles from us.   We don’t get the opportunity to see him, or his mom and dad,  that often.   Needless to say, we don’t like this, but for now, it is what it is.   We won’t be leaving Texas anytime soon.   It took far too long to get back.   With that in mind, here are some photos taken of Cameron and dad (my son, Austin) at Bull Branch Park, in Taylor, Texas on Friday evening.   They boarded a plane back to Atlanta the next morning.   Any family member of ours must see the Taylor ducks whenever they can!  The last photo in this post is just a moment between Cameron and his dad after leaving the park.

Early Friday afternoon, the school board offices in Georgetown, Texas  advised my friends at the Willamson County Sun  to anticipate Georgetown High’s graduation ceremonies being moved into the school gym, not the district’s beautiful stadium.   When I arrived around 6:30, however, officials decided to go with the original stadium plan.  Before showtime, students gathered inside the Klett Performing Arts Center,  checking those phones.   Family and friends were happy:  the stadium had plenty of room for all.   Those storm clouds did hover quite a bit though!   Despite the weather, principal Cade Smith  made almost through the M’s before lightning came.   With safety in mind,  the ceremony was halted,  418 graduates scurrying beneath the bleachers on the visitors’ side, parents and friends doing the same under the home-side stands.   After about 30 minutes, principal Smith gave the command:  “Let’s go.”   Things moved fast after that!   Before the last diploma landed in happy hands, the rain came, slowly at first.   The ceremony over, the bottom really dropped out.  Following tradition, graduates tossed bags of corn starch into the air.    Even with rain setting in, graduate Jo’Vonta Grimble couldn’t help celebrating a bit more, the empty seats surrounding him.   Over the loudspeaker came the iconic song, “Celebration,” by Kool & The Gang.   Jo’Vonta, and all these kids, got it done.

This couple of photos has nothing to do with what I was actually covering this evening, but storms are interesting.   This was on the way home, about a mile from my house in Taylor.  That reflection at the bottom  of  the first photo is the hood of my car.   Through the years I’ve found that dogs don’t like this kind of weather, but sometimes us humans do.

Several years ago, my daughter-in-law wondered if I would take a magnolia bloom photo for her.   The years slipped by.  Each time the magnolias were in bloom, I’d diverted elsewhere.   Alas, the blooms faded away.   This year was different.   Spurred on my daily walks in Taylor, combined with an impending family visit, I remembered the request.   Here are a few photos taken at the first part of the week.   The color is nice, but I think the black and white treatment may do more justice.  Simple is good.

We spent some good time again today with our grandson, Cameron James Sharp.   He visited some Texas Longhorns in Taylor, and finished his Texas adventure wandering on the Georgetown square. 

We are fortunate this week to have our son, daughter-in-law and grandson, Cameron James Sharp, paying us a visit.   Allow me, if you don’t mind, a few photos of our sweet little guy, some with my huge Kermit, others on a rainy afternoon.  Like his father at that age (almost 3), Cameron will go to sleep very fast on a car ride, particularly with his pillow pal from Buc-ee’s. 

Once again this Memorial Day I attended an observance in Sun City, Texas.  Alas,  a morning of heavy rain made their Veterans Memorial Plaza a less-than-adequate option, but the folks at Sun City have a huge ballroom to conduct the event.   This year’s guest speaker was Texas Governor Greg Abbott.  One of my favorite subjects this time around was 93-year-old Nora Haines, a World War II veteran who was a member of the British Royal Navy.   In one of the photos here, she’s holding a photo of herself taken in her service days, 75 years ago.   Another interesting couple were husband-and-wife veterans Ken Gormley, 96, and his wife, Renie, 91.  Both were in World War II, he as a Navy man, she a member of the WAVES, and an aviation mechanic.   Also in attendance was 35-year-old Alan Babin, a member of the 82nd Airborne Division, combat-injured in Iraq in 2003.    Even though indoors, it was a good observance.