Into the political center
Wednesday, 4 December 2019
A relic loblolly pine forest…so unexpected to me in my ignorance. Scientists have looked at the genetics, and these trees are closely related to others to the east. Thus, this is the westernmost stand of the eastern forest in this part of North America.
Of course, over a century ago, a big forest meant that loggers showed up. And the mills were built in Bastrop, and many people there became wealthy. Now the town seems bent on being uber-charming, to attract visitors (with credit cards and puffy pocketbooks) from nearby Austin, especially, and elsewhere.
Bastrop’s mills were powered by the water of the Colorado River, and here’s the old vehicle bridge (current one to the right), which is supposed to be a pedestrian bridge, but is closed presently.
Onward. Look: traffic. And more traffic. Look: a capital. Yes: Austin.
Post-dinner stroll: hey, Stevie Ray Vaughan, a man from a line of three-named men.
Riffles from passing crewing skulls. Yes, in the dark. And, yes, there’s a Goooooooogle “G” on the building opposite.
Playing with computational photography in the darkness under the railroad bridge over the Colorado. In between taking this and the previous photo, I was looking up for the lone star, but I saw more than one.