Tall stalks of white common beargrass (Xerophyllum tenax) flower clusters in the foreground of a green valley in Glacier National Park, with snow-streaked mountain peaks and a streaked, long-exposure sky behind.

X Marks the Spot: WXYZ Florals

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We have reached the end of Terri’s Flower Hour ABCs. It was a fun and revealing undertaking. For these last letters, the hardest one for me was X. I wanted to stay in Texas, but it was not easy. You’ll … Read More

Whitewashed limestone officers’ quarters at Fort McKavett State Historic Site, with a covered front porch, shuttered windows, a weathered wood-shingle roof, and two chimneys, beside a large live oak under a deep blue sky.

Close Quarters

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Lens-Artists Challenge #415: Move Your Body When Anne set this week’s challenge, I knew exactly what I wanted to show. However, because I was in Colorado until Monday, I waited until I got home to put this post together. Like … Read More

A Great Blue Heron stands in shallow water at the edge of a pond, one leg raised, with willow branches and their reflections filling the water behind it.

Still Hunting

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Last week, after my daily meditation, I noticed a Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias) at the edge of the pond behind the house. It was motionless, the way they are when they hunt. A Nutria (Myocastor coypus) surfaced nearby, swam … 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

A small reed-covered island in a man-made lake at Murphy Park, Taylor, Texas, dotted with dozens of white egrets, with trees and a water tower behind it under a blue sky.

Room on the Island

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Lens-Artists Challenge #414: Looking Back at #44–Harmony This week Ann-Christine revisits the Lens-Artists Challenge #44: Harmony. She’s given us more freedom to explore harmony beyond the color-harmony concept. Please see her post and photos for her take on the topic. … 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

A weathered wooden footbridge with slanted rails rises from a reddish dirt path into a dense canopy of juniper and oak, rendered with a soft, painterly, amber-toned effect. Wild Basin Wilderness Preserve, Austin, Texas.

Bridges on Two Wheels

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Lens-Artists Photo Challenge #413: Bridges Those who read my posts regularly know how much I enjoy riding my bicycles. Whether on the gravel bike or the mountain bike, the breeze on my face and the scenery around me give me … Read More

Low-angle view of two rusted, torn steel columns from the World Trade Center standing against a blue sky with clouds, framed by bare and evergreen tree branches.

Steel That Remembers: The 9/11 Monument at the Texas State Cemetery

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“Time is passing. Yet, for the United States of America, there will be no forgetting September the 11th.”— President George W. Bush, November 11, 2001 Tucked into the rolling grounds of the Texas State Cemetery in Austin stands a monument … Read More

Black-and-white macro photograph of a shrimp plant flower cluster against a dark background, showing overlapping bracts with crinkled, paper-like texture, fine hairs along their edges, and a single curled filament extending from the tip.

A Heart with Two Valves — Shrimp Plant in Macro

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Whenever I photograph our Shrimp Plant (Justicia brandegeeana) in macro mode, I am surprised by what the lens reveals. Take the monochrome header image. Stripped of its color, the flower is all texture: the bracts turn paper-thin and crinkled, every … Read More

Wide concrete emergency spillway of Canyon Dam under a clear blue sky, with the turquoise water of Canyon Lake and wooded Hill Country ridges beyond, framed by live oak and juniper branches.

A Canyon Born In Three Days

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Lens-Artists Challenge #412: Places Shaped by Water What are the odds of hiking through a canyon that is younger than you are? I don’t know how often that chance comes along, but in the Texas Hill Country it does. Canyon … Read More

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