winter in a texas vineyard

Yesterday a friend and I visited Messina Hof Winery here in Bryan, TX. Obviously we're many months from grape harvesting time, but there's something ridiculously peaceful about walking through the vines during the middle of winter. And since our weather is currently about as mild as January weather can be, we took advantage of an opportunity to stroll around the lake, snap some photos, and enjoy multiple glasses of amazing wine (cheese too, of course). A fantastic Friday afternoon.

"the brazos still runs muddy ..."

"... like she's run all along ...."

It's a dreary, gray day--the perfect Sunday backdrop, as far as I'm concerned. Trying to beat the rainstorm that's about to roll in, I grabbed my camera and drove out to an old bridge that covers some railroad tracks on the Brazos County line. Nothing but the Brazos River, the occasional car passing on the road above, and the sound of birds in the trees. The scene may not have been considered beautiful in the classic sense of the word; but I thought it was glorious.

those christmas lights, light up the street

The lights are officially glittering in Historic Downtown Bryan. I've been waiting for an opportunity to practice my shutterbugging in manual mode (specifically, at night); so I grabbed the ol' Canon this quiet Sunday evening and attempted to capture some of their sparkle.