Arnold Parker, 82, hadn't played the guitar for 27 years until he realized his grandchildren had never heard his music. In 2005 for his return to the stage at the Leo J. Welder Center in Victoria, TX, he played his favorite song, You're the Best Thing That Ever Happened to Me," which he dedicated to his wife of 61 years, as usual. He has retired for the second time, but was welcomed into America's Old-Time Country Music Hall Of Fame in August 2018 for his 1956 track "Find a New Woman." Here, Parker sits in his office, framed by pictures of himself throughout his career.

A long exposure of Maestro Darryl One conducting the Victoria Symphony evokes the brushstrokes of Victoria, TX, artist Richie Vios, who during this "Star-Spangled Salute" performance on October 27, 2018, had an hour and 45 minutes to complete a watercolor painting of the Symphony in real time. Maestro One has been conducting the Victoria Symphony since 1995.

On a balmy September evening, just as the sun dipped below the horizon, the audience at the Texana Raceway in Edna, TX, rose in response to the national anthem over the subdued rumble of stock car engines. Though it was a town of less than 6,000 the pit lane was full of drivers from across Texas, some of whom had been attending races in small dirt tracks like this one for decades.

The Gobblers of Cuero, TX, raise a trophy with their coach Travis Reeve, center, on December 15, 2018 at Legacy Stadium, after defeating the Silsbee Tigers 29-24. With this win the Gobblers advanced to the state high school football final, their first since 2004. The team was held aloft in the final minutes with a touchdown from star quarterback Jordan Whittington and vital fumble recovery by defensive end Trey Moore. Cuero would go on to win their fourth state championship and their first since 1987.

Two days before Thanksgiving in 2014, an early morning house fire took four children from Johnny Hernandez and Annabelle Ortiz, leaving only their fifth child Johnny Hernandez III. Here, four years later, they sat with their son next to where the children were laid to rest at the Assumption Catholic Cemetery in Ganado, Texas, part of an annual visit with family and friends. This year was the first time since the fire that the family was able to celebrate the Thanksgiving holiday at their home with a turkey, dressing and cakes. "It's time to forget the tragedy, not the kids - to let that part go and keep on with the memories and start new traditions," Annabelle said.

A member of the Cuero Volunteer Fire Department hauls a fire hose within reach of a saltwater disposal tank which erupted into flames on Sunday, December 16 near Meyersville, TX. The cause was not immediately known. The tank, owned by BRB Concepts, LLC was designed to contain the byproduct of hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, which uses water at high pressure to break natural gas out of underground pockets. Commenting on a similar fire in 2017, Neil Carman, the Clean Air Director at the Sierra Club's Lone Star Chapter, said that the hazardous material released into the atmosphere from such fires "at some point is going to drop to ground level and it's not good stuff to be breathing in."

Outside the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Rusty Alphin, left, a vocal critic of Confederate statue removal and member of pro-Confederate group Heirs to the Confederacy, stands as a counter-protestor (who asked to remain anonymous) shouts anti-racism mantras through a megaphone. After learning of the February 23 pro-Confederate event on Facebook, anti-fascists attempted to drown out the Heirs members. Despite the removal of UNC's Silent Sam statue late last year, tensions between pro- and anti-Confederate groups remained.