Austin, Texas

One late afternoon, I was able to walk downtown for a little while and meandered down 6th Street. This old country boy did some gawking at all those tall buildings! Gorgeous city!

Austin, Texas

I loved the fence around the Texas State Capitol with its golden stars. And the rotunda was absolutely magnificent! They say it is the tallest dome in the nation. Plus, Lady Liberty can also be found on the grounds. What a place!

Austin, Texas

Visited Austin, Texas, this past week for business. Luckily, our meetings were near the State Capitol and I walked by it every day. What a beautiful structure! And lots of monuments graced the grounds. This week I will feature photos from my trip to this wonderful city.

Sunset on Thursday, March 18

I was lucky enough to be near the bridge on Thursday afternoon and stayed long enough to snap this photo. Wow!

Silent

This piano is located in an abandoned church in northeast Warren County. Took my photo buddies Robert Walker and Jerry Rushing to see it Saturday morning.

Dorms at Tougaloo College

Ventured over Tougaloo College's way Saturday morning. These are some of the dorms on campus. This building has a twin, also. It looks like the individual rooms are pre-manufactured pods that were placed in there one by one, but that is just a guess. Looks like a housing concept that made it into reality. Anybody know more?

This is not a typical photo for me, but I have never seen anything like it in my life.

Sunrise on Saturday, March 20

These are two photos taken of Saturday's spectacular sunrise display. The top was taken on Oak Ridge Road at the Newitt Vick gravesite before the sun had topped the horizon and the next one was about 20-30 minutes later on Hwy. 80 past Bovina. Look at the fog covering the field in the Bovina photo. Beautiful! Now that's what I call going to church!

Sunset on Friday, March 19

The sky was extremely hazy, and made for an interesting photo. What a beautiful sight. Even better, I shared it with my gorgeous wife, Karen.

Delta Shack

This ol' shack is located right in the middle of a cotton field up near Rolling Fork. Haven't been back that way in a while, so I don't know if it is still standing.

Hwy. 3 store

This store used to be on Hwy. 3 up near the Ballground community, but has since been torn down.

Freeland Cemetery

A visit to Windsor Ruins in Claiborne County is not complete without a visit to the historic Freeland family cemetery, which lies in the woods not far from the majestic homestead. The ancestors of Tom Freeland, a fellow blogger and lawyer in Oxford, Mississippi, reside here. Visit his wonderful blog at http://nmisscommentor.

It is a beautiful old cemetery, sitting up on an Indian mound surrounded by a brick fence covered in green lichen. The last photo with the moss-covered brick is my favorite, just for the vividness of the green. The builder of Windsor is buried here.

Windsor Ruins

Stopped by Windsor Ruins the other day that featured fluffy cloudy and blue skies! Glorious!

Rodney, Mississippi

Here are some more photos from the cemetery at Rodney, Mississippi. It sits on top of a high bluff and the view must have been glorious back in the town's heyday. It's rather peaceful and sort of an adventure now to wander through the cemetery because every tombstone seems to be returning to the earth as nature keeps claiming more and more of the resting places for these ancestors of ours.

Rodney, Mississippi

Two more of the structures still surviving in Rodney are the store, complete with gas pump, and the Masonic Lodge. What I wouldn't give to go inside both of them!

My shooting buddy, Robert Walker, has also posted some fine photos of the town he took when we ventured into the town a few days ago. You can see them at http://blog.gritsphotography.com/

Charles

Here is the most thought-provoking tombstone I have ever encountered in my life. It's in the city cemetery for the historic town of Rodney. The cemetery is all grown up now and if you don't know where it was you will have a hard time ever finding it. A tree is just about to consume this entire tombstone of someone I call Charles. I call him that because when I took a photo of this tombstone on Dec. 15, 2007, you could nearly read the name. It is pictured in the last photo. Click on the photos to enlarge them, if you prefer. The top photos are of the tombstone as shot on Feb. 27, 2010.

He's just about gone. I have trouble expressing my feelings about what these photos mean to me. I am glad I know Charles is there, for in a few years no one will even know his tombstone existed. But I know. And I will keep visiting him every year until his tombstone is completely covered up. In a few years, I will have to point out the lump in the tree to photo friends who go with me and tell them the story.

But I also like the lessons I am learning from Charles. Don't take it for granted that you will be remembered. Live on through your children, your children's children and your children's children's children. Tell me what you think. I would love to hear it.