part 1 | part 2 | part 3 | part 4 | part 5
had the best intentions of being out in barrio logan before sunrise. set my alarm for four-thirty. snoozed it until five-thirty, dressed quickly, ate a bowl of cereal.
i started worrying about catching the red train out the barrio—not the actual ride out, but the standing in the dark waiting, plus switching trains and waiting some more. lots of homeless types zombie-ing around ya know.
i needn't have worrried at the first station—wasn't dark by six anyway, but there were at least five cops just standing around. same at the next station, plus plenty of people. but i totally would have been fine taking a swing at someone with the pointy end of my tripod, if there was any trouble.
so really the only thing about having to be off on my own, is worrying about my safety in the dark. that sucks. i miss my favorite light because of that. stupid.
i hadn't been to chicano park in a couple of years. i think last time it was or threatened to rain, so many cars just didn't bother to show up, and there was so much room on the grass, that vendors had set up out front, where cars usually get packed in.
this day, the weather was perfect. just a little chilly, but not enough to wear a coat. would have gotten too warm quickly, and my bag has no room for stuffing a jacket.
started over by the skateboard park, with a line-up of impalas—sixty-twos/sixty-threes/sixty-fours. then caught the end of the line of cars on dewey street, heading to the grassy knoll.
quickly headed through the park to start on the street side this time, assuming it would be much hotter later, and the pavement would be too much. usual clubs in their usual spots: pachucos, viejitos, majestics, klique.
turned right, up toward the majestics' big blue club house. i don't think i've ever seen it without the yard packed with people, but it still was early, so just a few setting up tables.
made quick work of the length of the street, then up on the back patch of grass. i skipped cars i'd seen before, had hoods up, or just didn't like the shot. i can be choosy, when i'm running against the mental clock in my head.
took a break, chugged a bottle of water, and went around the front lawn i'd skipped through earlier. after all that, about ten, it was starting to get crowded, and the sun had come out and was feeling warm. i decided to stop, head to the market, use the facilities, and grab me some carnitas.
unusually, the carnitas sucked. they usually are the most tender, flavorful pieces of meat you could wish for; this time of day, i got a plate full of brittle, bristly meat stumps. best part of the meal was the tortillas. sad.
i had mentally called it a day, and had even texted my better half that i was done. he basically said what the hell...his weather app was telling him the day was perfect, so why stop? i thought about it a little, and figured he was right. especially, when right out the door, between the stores and apartment complex, the impala car club had set up in the middle of the street.
so shot a few of those cars, then headed around the far side of the building, toward the end of the road and the freeway on-ramp end of logan avenue. come around the corner, to the shouts of a group of christians of some sort shouting from the right hand side of the on-ramp at a group of people on the opposite side, backed up by a contingent of cops and their cars just standing around, just in case. whatever.
cut through that mess, figuring i'd just quickly run through and see if anything drove up that i might have missed earlier. unfortunately, by that time, all i could see up the road was a river of people. bad news for me and my tripod.
i still shot quite a few cars, but i had to wait out the shot longer than before, between the flows of people. to the point that i was just done, and pulled off to the side to pack my shit.
even then, there were so many people in the park, under the overpass to coronado, that i decided to not go that way, and turned around back through the cops and on-ramp drama to get out of there.
to be continued...
