It’s hard to keep up with the number of times I’ve wandered onto the weathered boards of the retired truss bridge along County Road 366 in the Rowe Valley area north of Taylor.   Several years ago, before light pollution made things problematic, I actually spent an entire night on this bridge in pursuit of a predicted meteor shower.   The photos were pedestrian, but it was an interesting experience.  When we moved to Taylor in 2009 the bridge had already been closed for years, replaced by a more modern one spanning the San Gabriel River.  I’m surprised it’s been allowed to remain, but glad it’s there. When there Sunday evening, the thing that really got my attention were what appeared to be hundreds of little bugs  hovering over the river.   Since they were in constant motion I’m assuming  they were insects!   Friends with knowledge of such things probably know what they are, but the way the late-day light highlighted their movements was remarkable.   Anyone who knows when this bridge was retired should feel free to fill us in.

Just watching light tonight as it falls on old-growth pecan trees not far from the San Gabriel River near Taylor, Texas.

While taking photos at Georgetown’s Market Days on Saturday morning, I had time to visit with some nice folks from All Things Wild Rehabilitation, a Williamson County non-profit that  comes to the rescue of nature’s wild  animals in need.   Although they’ve been profiled on this site and social media a couple of times, this post focuses on  their upcoming fundraiser, a Country Brunch at Dale’s Essenhaus in Walburg, happening next Saturday, October 21st from 10:30a.m. to 1:30p.m.  They’ll bring along some of their Ambassador animals, ones who are helped for life because their injuries won’t allow release back into the wild.  Live country music will be provided by Jo Ellen Burnevik.    The photos presented here include three Ambassadors, including Murphy, a blind opossum held by Helen Laughlin, a founder of this group, Luna, an Eastern Screech Owl who lost a wing after being hit by a car,  and Daffy, a skunk cuddled by helper Sharon Dunning.   You can get tickets for the brunch at their website.    Show this deserving group some kindness. 

On the way to Georgetown early this morning a nice sunrise came into my field of view near Weir, Texas.   Windmills are a given.

It was fun watching people observing the annular eclipse today at Berry Springs Park & Preserve, hosted by Friends of Berry Springs Park, a good group of folks who provided solar glasses free of charge while supplies lasted.   For my camera, I used a pricey solar filter for the eclipse photos.  It worked well, something I’ll use again next April.  Our visibility in Williamson and Travis Counties was 89%, not too shabby.  For 100% visibility, you had to travel south toward San Antonio.   The eclipse photos shown here are presented in the order taken, starting about 10:50a.m., concluding at 12:40p.m.    I’m seeing a whole bunch of eclipse photos, but very few of the people enamored by the event.   You need both for a complete picture, even if you’re not a journalist.

By this time each year most of the migratory egrets and ibis have moved on from Murphy Park’s rookery, but I did see quite a few still gracing us with their presence this week.    It’s still a nice place all year long, with cattle egrets, ducks, cormorants, geese and herons, but the Great and Snowy Egrets will probably leave very soon.   My preference with these birds  is observing them in flight as they dance among the clouds.

A few flowers come into our area after a period of rain each fall.   You may recall I posted some rain lilies recently, but am seeing quite a few more this  past week.   The red flowers have been called Oxblood Lilies, Schoolhouse Lilies and Amaryllis.  Others may have different names for them.    The opening photo is from this evening, a bit south of Taylor.   Others were seen the in recent days in Taylor.   The little white and yellow flowers are tiny, but vibrant.  Those were seen during morning walks.   I’m terrible at identifying flowers, but love seeing them.  They don’t stay around very long.

Approximately 2500 pumpkins arrived this afternoon from New Mexico at Georgetown’s First United Methodist Church.  Lots of folks were there to help unload and distribute the pumpkins, but perhaps the most fun worker was just the young fellow enjoying the aromatic hay as much as the pumpkins.   The pumpkins go on sale Thursday, continuing through the end of the month.  Another batch arrives here on October 22nd.

Clouds hovered over our area throughout the day and evening.   Rather than post something ready to go, I wanted to represent the sky tonight.   It wasn’t working out so  well until about 20 minutes or so after sunset, when crisp blue night light came into play over a pasture in East Williamson County.   If that horse sharing hay with cows was dark, this wouldn’t have worked at all.   Thank goodness for white horses.  

Georgetown’s Grace Episcopal Church held their Blessing of the Animals Sunday morning at San Gabriel Park.   It’s a sweet service in a quiet setting.   In the opening photo Buster Brown receives his blessing, relishing the attention.   He’s shown in another photo wearing his human’s cap.   Buster came into his owner’s life when he was losing his wife in 2021.   Buster Brown and his human nuture one another.   Pets deserve all the blessings we can give them.