From earlier this week, photographs along  a peaceful country road east of Walburg, Texas.   Initially, the stop was to snap photos of cars and trucks cresting that hill, but then the owls came along.   It was good to be able to stop for a few minutes to take these shots, no stressed motorists urging things along.  As a friend in North Carolina preaches, “keep lonely places lonely.”   Couldn’t agree more, Rick!

The Jonah Community School, opened in 1922, is pictured tonight around 8pm Central Daylight Time.   The photograph was taken on a tripod-mounted Nikon Z8 camera, ISO 800, a 25-second exposure.    Social media has been flooded with Northern Lights offerings.   Several from last evening were posted.    Maybe the Northern Lights, if there, occurred later.   This, however, is tonight’s offering.  Staying up into the wee hours for a better effect  is seldom acceptable.

Several hundred attendees visited Sun City, Texas for their annual Veterans Day observance  this morning.  The post begins with a 5-year-old lad gracefully saluting during the playing of the “Star-Spangled Banner.”    The lady in red is a Navy veteran.  The last one, taken after the ceremony concluded,  is a Vietnam War veteran, now 77, as he searches for the commemorative brick that bears his name.    He found it before leaving.   The little boy is the favorite moment this year.

Farmers, many if not most, work well beyond the presence of daylight.   It’s inspiring to see them navigating the Blackland Prairie fields in our area.   This gentleman was seen tonight, probably continuing a little longer before saying goodnight to the land.  

A few photographs from a Sunday visit to Georgetown’s Field of Honor, held in San Gabriel Park.   It was a cool day, with a whole lot of wind.   Flags billow nicely on days like this!  It was the official opening day for the Field of Honor.   Groups, including military, first responders and other groups  marched through the flags for a Parade of Colors.   Aside from the official ceremony it was interesting to see a runner putting in her seven miles surrounded by flags, plus two sisters dashing through the field.  And a dad and his son taking time to appreciate the flags.  The flags, coordinated by the Georgetown Rotary Club Foundation, will be here until November 16th.

Hopefully these daily stroll photographs aren’t getting tiresome, but as always mentioned, it’s therapy.  A couple again include squirrels.   All shots were from Taylor this week, all with a snazzy little Olympus.

The Georgetown Field of Honor, conducted by the Rotary Club of Georgetown, began its 9th year today in San Gabriel Park.  2000 American flags adorn a field in the park through November 16th.  The Field of Honor, of course, coincides with the Veterans Day observance. Families and individuals were placing flags on the field throughout the day.   An  official opening ceremony will be held here Sunday afternoon.  Most don’t need explanation,  but the 250th birthday of the Marine Corps was observed here today.  On hand were the oldest Marine veteran, 95, as as well as their youngest veteran,  28.   The 95-year-old  gent,  in the red cap,  spent a little time with a 5-year-old, whose mom and dad are West Point graduates.     These are moments from today’s wanderings.  The last photos were taken this evening, when the light on the field was a visual treat.

Folks gathered on the courthouse lawn in Georgetown for tonight’s final First Friday concert of the year, featuring LT and the Locals.   With families in need during the ongoing government shutdown, several groups conducted a Community Food Drive.   Included were Helping Hands of Georgetown, The Georgetown Project, Antioch Georgetown, City Church Georgetown, the Downtown Georgetown Association, Georgetown Beard Club and the Georgetown Ministerial Alliance.  Their large blue barrels will remain in place on Saturday for Georgetown’s Market Days.  If you’re attending Market Days, consider helping out.

These hawk photographs keep taking up room on the computer desktop.   Why not toss a few of them onto this site, even if there are some power lines lurking.   The ultimate goal is get photos of a bald eagle.   In the meantime, these raptors are pretty neat, too.

Several years ago, probably 2017 or 2018, a drive around Bartlett, Texas led to meeting Lana Sue Hill.   Throughout her cluttered yard were examples of her folk art sculptures, some still works in progress.  With much of this career spent in Georgia it seemed appropriate to mention another folk artist,  Reverend Howard Finster.   During the Journal-Constitution years it was a pleasure to visit his Paradise Garden in Summerville, Georgia.   Lana wasn’t aware of Finster’s work, but soon learned more about him.   Just a few evenings back, we had a chance to visit again.   During our first meeting  years ago she didn’t have electricity in her house, but now has solar panels and a couple of generators to help out.  We were both born in 1952, a good year, right?   During last week’s visit she was missing her hat.   We looked around, but couldn’t find it.   Visiting her chickens, however, was  fun.  When passing by this evening, Lana was wearing her hat.   New photos were taken, plus some shots of her work.   She’s a neat lady.

arp.