Last evening close to sunset I was taking a walk around Taylor, watching the  warm light.    Stepping across the street for a better angle, I exchanged a greeting with Ernie.  “You remember me,” he said.   That was true.  I’ve seen Ernie making his way around town for a while.   “What millimeter is that?” he asked, pointing to one of my lenses.   We continued to chat while I snapped photos of the building.  When asking where he stayed, Ernie replied “here and there.”   Now in his mid-70s, Ernie says he’s a veteran.   “I used to have a home here,” he told me.   We didn’t take it any further than that.   He was okay with my camera’s presence.   For over five decades I’ve photographed souls experiencing hard times in three states, including Texas, Louisiana and Georgia.  I’ve yet to have a good answer for the problem.    Noticing what he had with him, I didn’t offer money, but next time maybe I can provide food and drink if he likes.   He asked for nothing.  I headed home.

The black and white photographs included here date back to the early-1970s along East 6th Street in Austin, where I spent a lot of time documenting the area.   In mid-70s Shreveport, I visited a shelter where a young lady clutched her doll.   In the early-80s I met Leah, an wide-eyed blond child housed at a homeless children’s shelter in Atlanta.

There are no simple solutions.   There never were.

While the large sunflowers planted by humans are nice, I’m enjoying the smaller ones that grow in natural abundance at this time of year.   It’s remarkable how heat-tolerant they are.   Just sunflower sunsets tonight, friends.

Grain sorghum,  milo, or Great Millet,  is making an abundant appearance on the Blackland Prairie this year.   It’s a crop I truly enjoy seeing, so  vibrant.   Its primary use is as livestock feed, but this gluten-free plant can be used for human consumption as well.   You might find it in snack foods, also in baking and brewing.   From what I saw this week in the Beyersville area, red-winged blackbirds enjoy it, too!

Cattle graze under an impeccable sky tonight near Beyersville, Texas.  I’ll leave it at that, friends.

If you look closely, perhaps you can find the three kites in this photograph.   The sky, and a few small birds, were my actual goal.  In the distance I saw what I believed to be hovering birds.  A closer brought visual clarity.   Our Blackland Prairie skies can be nice.   Those kites added much to the evening.

The day began with haze over areas around Taylor, the sun occasionally breaking through the clouds.    I returned to the rookery for a few minutes.  

A lot more time could be spent at Taylor’s rookery, but I try to pace myself.   A few photographs from an evening this week are included here.   Last year’s heat and lack of rainfall made life very hard on these birds.   I’m hoping this summer won’t be as bad, but it’s already approaching triple digits in our area.   These birds are elegant beings.

You might call them sunflowers, but I think of them as happy flowers.   From a neighbor’s yard this week in Taylor.   They make me smile.

It will probably be a while before encountering something as inspiring and heartwarming as Bo, an almost 4-week old Nigerian Dwarf Goat owned by Melissa Meiske, the Activities Director at Taylor’s S.P.J.S.T. Skilled Nursing and Rehabilitation Center.   Bo comes to work every day with Melissa, bringing warmth and joy to the residents.   He’s a little guy, only 7 pounds so far.  When grown he probably won’t be much larger, maybe 15 pounds.   Bo likes to spend time cuddling with folks.   I held him for a brief time, too.    Presented here are some photos taken of Bo interacting with the folks there.  Melissa is in the vertical photo at the end. 

It’s funny how these things come together.   About two months ago, I set out to photograph dragonflies where I knew they liked to congregate.   It took forever to one of them still long enough to make a picture.   Yesterday, however, it’s like they sought out the camera!  The opening shot was taken  with my light Olympus  while on a morning walk.  The lens was a zoom with a maximum focal length equivalent to 300mm.   When seeing her bright orange wings I moved slowly in her direction, assuming she’d zip on along.  She didn’t.  I swear she looked to be smiling.   Then last evening, Nikons in hand, I set out to photograph some horses in a small pasture.   Those photos were okay, but when I got ready to call it a day along comes another dragonfly, staying busy atop a fence post.  Once again, I assumed she’d mosey on, but she’d take flight, then seconds later return to the same spot.  This went on for about 20 minutes.  Finally, with the late-day light quickly fading I called it a day.  She probably stayed on that post into the night.  Sometimes we’re given a gift.