Bones and kids

A couple of you saw me tweet this today and were curious about what I was up to.

"Walking around in the woods w/ boy scouts showing me where they found the dead body. Now I've nvr seen Stand by Me, but I imagine it's this"

Well it turns out a group of friends were walking through the woods, hunting for birds with a BB Gun Friday evening, behind their homes when they came across a pair of old pants and what looked like a bone inside. Being Boy Scouts they quickly recognized it as a human bone and then found other human remains.


It was later learned that the remains were that of a man who went missing on Mother's Day in May 2007 and police are still investigating a cause of death.

It was a surreal experience for me. On the one had a man had died where we were walking around. But on the other hand the kids didn't see to be bothered by it and they and their parents were sort of in awe of the whole situation. It was a strange mix of respect for the dead and sense of Indiana Jones style adventure.


I'm still not sure how I feel about it. Walking among the final resting place of the remains and the remnants of a police investigation. I guess that's what this job is like sometimes. We're not ever supposed to have an opinion on anything anyway.

Birds on a wire

San Antonio seems to be under some flight path for many migrating animals. Last spring there were tons of grackles, I'd never seen them before but they look like something between a raven and a crow, and some of them are pretty mean to as you'll see in this video. A couple months ago we were inundated with moths, they were everywhere and around sunset they filled the sky. I never got a good picture of them though (sorry no link... sigh... I've failed you Roberto, Daniel and my mom... because seriously y'all are the only ones reading this), they were so small that by the time you got a good look they had already run into your face. Around that same time came the monarch butterflies.

Well, the latest critter to fill our skies has been these birds, which I am still not sure what kind they are, but they are everywhere. A year ago when I lived in Midland, Mich I had a very similar experience when groups of crows started showing up and filling every single tree around my home, and I thought that was amazing, but this now is insane. They're on every perchable surface imaginable, poles, signs, freeway mediums, buildings, wires, cars, post office boxes... you get the idea. It's like the playground scene out of the birds. And what fascinates me is how they all seem to keep an equal distance from each other on all those surfaces. It's like they all carry around a ruler to measure it out.

Nature huh?

Veterans Day 2009

This year for Veterans day I was sent to a new GI Forum housing and a work center for homeless veterans. It's part of a larger campus called Haven for Hope which is all designed around aiding the homeless and low income folks in need of a hand. The campus isn't open 100% yet, they started building it last Spring (around March I think) and pieces of it have been opening as they are finished.

I've done a few stories down there but there's still a ton of real stories to be told still. Today I meet a group of Vets from a local VFW post in San Antonio, all very nice guys who have done more than their fair share for this country.

I thought that since today is Veterans Day, I'd share some of the pictures from the day.

Stopping by at Can't Stop Street

Everyday as I leave for work I drive past a man who walks up and down my street with a broom. When I come back he's still walking.

Years ago I lived next to a women who every Thursday morning, before the sun came out, would cruise through recycling bins. A few months later the bank foreclosed on her home.

Last summer I found a man drawing with chalk on street corners. Everyone knew about him, but no one knew his name.

We've all seen them and everyday we look over our shoulder as we fly by and wonder what they're about. But we never stop to find out.


I think that's partly why I got into this field. I was always a shy kid. But the camera drew me out. The chance to communicate my thoughts and ideas, to show others the way I see things and to do so without having to talk to anyone sounded pretty good at the time.


It didn't last though. Walking anywhere with a camera in my neighborhood wasn't very inconspicuous, I might as well have hired a guy to walk around behind me with a spinning arrow. In hindsight that probably would have been safer.

I was getting noticed everywhere I went, people were coming up to me, curious about the clicking box in my hands, asking me to take their picture, wondering what I was up to. I was talking to people I would never have normally stopped to talk to; hearing their take on current events, sharing laughs and taking trips down memory lane. Sitting with them on a street corner, at the bus stop, walking in the park; I was finding stories and interesting people everywhere I turned.


It turned out to be a blessing in disguise. My camera had become my excuse to not be shy and before long I was finding my curiosity was taking over too.

Fast forward to today and I guess I'm still at it. Stopping at a street called Can't Stop, because my camera allowed me the excuse.

Butterfly Migration

Turns out there's a family of the monarch butterflies which migrate through south Texas and today I had the opportunity to make a two hour drive to spend the day in a sea of them fluttering all around me.

For a day, I feel like I'm back in California :)

There's more pictures if you're interested in the slideshow over at the San Antonio Express-News website.

Enjoy!

Sinkhole recharge

A series of caves in Stone Oak City Park are part of the recharge zone for the aquifer.

Lost in translation

When I was handed an assignment sheet to cover the San Anto Cultural Arts press conference, I was a bit confused.

They're going to crown King and Queen Huevo? "Eggs," I thought. "Am I losing something in translation here?"

It turns out my two years of bumbling through high school Spanish had once again come through.

It was their founders' sense of humor, I was told when I arrived. Even calling the event they were promoting a gala was part of the joke.

I liked the sound of that; I carried some of the same affinity for the absurd.

In reality, the 12th annual Huevos Rancheros Gala fundraiser taking place Oct. 3 is far from a formal affair, but instead a picnic style breakfast at Plaza Guadalupe. The gala features music, a silent art auction and, of course, a full huevos rancheros breakfast. Admission is 99 cents to $999 — i.e. pay what you can.




The press had been called to gather under the brightly colored La Musica de San Anto mural along Commerce Street. Flanked by depictions of other mifoto huevos 100209 05.jpglocal musicians, there was Cultural Arts founder Manuel "Manny" D. Castillo Jr. mid-song: eyes winced, mouth agape, pounding the drums with his signature print of Our Lady of Guadalupe lining the drum bass.

I have no idea who he is.

The locals look at me like I'm an alien when I ask about him.

It's not a look uncommon to me since I arrived in San Antonio a few months ago. The last time I'd seen that look, it came from David Robinson's father, Ambrose. I approached him to get his name.

Hey, what can I say? I'm not from around these parts. Plus that is one of the joys of this job — getting to learn something new every day.

As I hear tales of Manny from the volunteers, family members and the organization I look up at his mural and I am sad. I wish I would have met this man who touched so many lives and tried to make a change in his community, even when the odds were against him.

It's something we all aspire to — making a difference. In my line of work, I think it is what drives most of us photojournalists. It certainly isn't the pay. This job is not about getting one over on someone or making them look bad — only the bean counters care about that. Those of us in the trenches, we're just hoping to end the day having shined a light on a dark corner and maybe if we're lucky, once in our career, will report something that affects positive change.

The podium is moved into place and after the speakers make their announcements one by one, its now time for the crescendo. With Manny reigning over the event from his Technicolor stucco canvas, a crown of feathers and sequins are placed atop his mother and father.

Long live King and Queen Eggs.