23 Apr2015
Belated Birthday
My mother’s birthday was April 20th and although she isn’t here with us physically, I often feel her presence. This was the case on her birthday Monday evening. I had been guiding photographers at the Laguna Seca Ranch Sunday/Monday and we were heading to the Jones Alta Vista Ranch outside Hebbronville for Tuesday/Wednesday. We stopped at the little church on Highway 1017 outside San Isidro and I know Mom would have loved to have seen it. I could almost hear one of her favorite hymns, “The Old Rugged Cross,” playing as I photographed that little church. The weather had been cloudy and overcast, sometimes accompanied by drizzly rain, but as we stopped to take photographs, light exploded through the heavy clouds. I noticed something I hadn’t seen when I had stopped there previously – a small decorative strip along the top of the gate. The way the strip was shaped, I could compose the photograph so that the church’s cross on the steeple fit inside of it. Some vines formed a curly-Q above the cross. When I finished making photographs, I turned back toward the MiniBeast (my Ford Expedition) and sang Happy Birthday inside my head. Be sure to click on the photo below to reveal the entire image.
Little Church on Highway 1017 Outside San Isidro, Texas