Black-and-white photo of a metal road sign at a highway fork in the Davis Mountains of West Texas, reading South Texas 166 and North Texas 118, with a two-lane road curving in each direction beneath a partly cloudy sky.

Lens-Artists Challenge #417: Where Does It Lead?

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What does the title get you thinking about? Trails? Leading lines? Maybe animal tracks? There’s no single right answer, and that’s exactly the point. This week’s header image says it well: a signpost fork on a lonely stretch of highway … Read More

Macro photograph of a Rio Grande Globe Amaranth flower head with layered red and magenta papery bracts and tiny star-shaped yellow florets, set against a dark background.

Paper Fireworks: Rio Grande Globe Amaranth Up Close

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In early September 2026, I went to the Sunken Garden at San Gabriel Park in Georgetown, Texas. The garden is small but offers a good variety of plants and flowers. Although I often go there to photograph pollinators, nature often … Read More

A dense stand of American Germander (Teucrium canadense) along the Katy Crossing Trail in Georgetown, Texas, with upright green spikes of small pale pink-lavender flowers opening from the bottom up, tight buds at the tips, and toothed leaves below, against a softly blurred background of more flower spikes and greenery.

Open to the Sky — American Germander Along the San Gabriel

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In late May, while walking along the Katy Crossing Trail at San Gabriel Park in Georgetown, I noticed a plant I hadn’t seen before. It stood well above the ground cover, with upright spikes of small pink-lavender flowers swaying in … Read More

Collage of four Central Texas wildflowers blooming together — scarlet leatherflower, Turk’s cap, upright prairie coneflower, and violet ruellia.

STUVendous Florals

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Here’s another installment of Terri’s Flower Hour ABCs. This week we are close to the end of the alphabet. My entries are pretty common in many places, but one flower is endemic to the Edwards Plateau region in central Texas. … Read More

Close-up of a single Texas Indian Mallow (Abutilon fruticosum) flower with five veined, pale orange-yellow petals and a cluster of yellow stamens at the center, a tiny insect resting on the lower petal, against soft-focus green leaves along the Katy Crossing trail in San Gabriel Park, Georgetown, Texas.

A Small Sun Beside the Trail — Texas Indian Mallow at Katy Crossing

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Sometimes, while biking along the Katy Crossing trail in San Gabriel Park, I spot beauty that steals the moment away. I apply the brakes and stop to appreciate what Nature gives me. No special equipment is needed — a simple … Read More

A wide, low-angle view of a Pflugerville prairie blanketed in Firewheel wildflowers, their fiery red centers and yellow tips repeating into a softly blurred horizon dotted with bright yellow Stiff Greenthread.

A Field Aflame — and the One That Wasn’t

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A week ago, a friend invited me to join him for an early-morning walk through an open field in Pflugerville, where wildflowers were growing undisturbed. The day was windy, but the light was generous, and the field had been waiting. … Read More

A Pearl Crescent butterfly clings to a slender green grass blade with wings folded together, revealing the warm orange and black-veined underside lit by late-afternoon sun along Katy Crossing trail at San Gabriel Park, Georgetown, Texas.

Pearls in the Prairie

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Some treasures travel light. Along the Katy Crossing trail at San Gabriel Park, the Pearl Crescent (Phyciodes tharos) carries its namesake quietly — a small, milk-pale crescent tucked beneath the hindwing, visible only when the butterfly closes its sail. Late … Read More

Soft, impressionistic reflection of bare trees and a wooden footbridge mirrored on the calm green-blue surface of the San Gabriel River, with grasses along the bank.

The River’s Quiet Garden

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Although I enjoy biking at San Gabriel Park in Georgetown, Texas, lately I’ve spent more time walking one particular trail there — Katy Crossing. It’s a beloved route for mountain bikers, but what keeps drawing me back, besides the riding, … Read More

Two Common Green Darner dragonflies (Anax junius) mating in a heart-shaped “wheel position” on a reed stem, their reflections mirrored in the still water below, at Balcones Canyonlands National Wildlife Refuge, Texas.

Lucky Shots: Caught in the Act

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Lens-Artists Challenge #393: Lucky Shot Patience is unlikely to be what one relies on for lucky shots. Rather, you need to be in the right place at the right time. All the shots here were unexpected captures. I’ll tell you … Read More

A Great Blue Heron stands upright on a muddy bank at the water's edge, its long neck extended and orange-yellow bill pointed forward, reflected in warm amber and gold autumn-toned water.

Too Hot to Handle: How Great Blue Herons Keep Their Cool

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When most people think of a Great Blue Heron, they picture a stoic figure standing at the water’s edge. But sometimes that stillness gives way to something unexpected: a wide-open bill aimed skyward, holding perfectly still. It looks like a … Read More

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