We made a short day drive to Independence, Texas last Thursday to see how the wildflowers were coming along.   The community is in Washington County, about fifteen minutes north of Brenham.   It’s also the original home of Baylor University (from 1845-1886).   The wildflower season in this area may be lessened this year, but a few were there to see at Old Baylor Park.   Just a few minutes away a few more bluebonnets were seen at the Old Independence Cemetery.    A Web search indicates the community was founded in 1835, but a sign there claims it’s been here since the early-1820s.    The best guess for wildflower seekers this year might be around Ennis, about 40 miles south of Dallas.   Or possibly the Hill Country, but Ennis is a better bet.

Traveling too far again, but was fortunate to see the first signs of wheat growth in our area.   This is from tonight in  southern Bell County, Texas.

The week’s walk photographs, all using an older model Olympus camera equipped with a Panasonic Lumix 45-150mm lens.  Nikon is still the number one choice, but these little cameras are pretty awesome.   All photos  are in Taylor.  This time let’s begin with some of the last photos made on Friday morning, moments when Spring arrives at 9:46a.m. Central Daylight Time.  If the online search is correct, the first couple, seen in Murphy Park, are Thalia, or Water Canna.  Spring in Texas is short-lived, with temperatures already in the 90s.   Spring is the prelude to a sizzling summer that won’t go away before late-October.  It is what it is.  As are these photographs.   Still deciding about continuing this series.  

Photographs from this afternoon at Jonah School, now the Jonah Community Center, during their Hamberger Hut and Market Days fundraiser.   The school opened in 1922, closing in the 1970s when the district folded into the Georgetown School District.  It’s a site  where many photos have been taken in the past dozen or so years.   The elementary school  I attended in Texarkana, Grim Elementary, was built in 1913.  My first year of school there was  1958.   Looking to modernize, Grim offered old school desks for twenty-five cents.  Since that was my weekly allowance, I bought one, toting it  a half block to my home.  Time passes.  Years ago, a road-widening project signaled the end of Grim Elementary.   The school is gone.  The desk purchased for a quarter in 1958 is right behind this desk.  It’s good to see communities like Jonah  keeping their history alive.

A few photographs from today’s Texas Photography Festival, held in downtown Georgetown, Texas.   The gent in the red cap is David Valdez, the festival’s founder.   David contributes a lot to our area.

Tonight’s sunset nears in Bell County, Texas on the first day of Spring.

If conditions are right, you’re apt to see repetition of recent subjects.  One that often lends itself to return visits is Prince of Peace Lutheran Church in Wuthrich Hill.   This one is from early Wednesday evening.  The skies here can sometimes be inspiring.  Spring is here.

Spring brings us wildflowers, but another sign  are crops that flow over thousands of acres on the Blackland Prairie in Texas.   We’re mostly seeing   corn, but others will be here soon enough.  

Through the years the most abundant collection of Texas Bluebonnets have been in cemeteries.   Offered here are recent photographs taken at St. Peter Lutheran Church  Cemetery in Walburg.   Even without the wildflowers, the cemetery itself is quite beautiful.   Burials began here in the mid-late 1800s.  Walk among the burial sites, notice the stones, many with inscriptions s in German.   If you visit during  bluebonnet season, step lightly.   Some are still growing.  

A leftover from last night’s wandering.  Texas skies are visual treats.