Today’s song of the day Carlos Santana – Samba pa Ti
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 | Santana – Samba pa ti |  |
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Today’s picture of the day is one that I had wanted to make for years.
Where I grew up, there was a place called “Texas Lane.” It was on the other side of the river, and a different world away from the rest of my town.
- There was no trash pickup. Guys in a pickup would show up every now and then and haul it away.
- There was no law. The police would’t come out. If something happened, you were on your own.
- A snow cone vendor would show up a few times a week. He had flavors foreign to most people: leche, tamarindo, and coco.
- Everyone grew, harvested, and ate nopales (prickly pear cactus.)
- Everyone had a lemon tree.
- People actually believed in the cucui and la chusa
- The streets were not paved. The roads consisted of fine river soil, and huge river boulders.
- The citrus train would rumble through several times a day. You knew you were a real chicano when you could sleep through the train.
Texas Lane is where i spent my summers, and most any other weekend i could talk my parents into, as this is where my grandma chata lived. Right next door was my best friend, David.
I haven’t spent the night on Texas lane for maybe 25 years, but I can still smell the water flowing in the creek, the river rocks scattered through the yards, and the citrus that seemed to bloom constantly.
Texas Lane is one of those places that I think will always exist in my mind exactly how it was when I was 8, and days lasted forever. A time when summer vacation was an incredible gift from the gods.
I recently got in touch with David again, after twenty something years. It’ nice to know that there is someone out there in this world who also grew up on texas lane. Someone who, when they hear the name, conjures up days of exploration, and nights of hiding from the cucui.
The bridge in this photo is the bridge that separated Texas Lane from the rest of the world.
The song is a song i discovered while staying there one summer, fastidiously studying each and every album in my uncle Paul’s record collection.
at 12:30 pm
I remember Texas Lane. The cucuy really did live there!
at 1:37 pm
Serg,
That’s a great photo! The story behind the photo is just as great. Makes me try to think of a place like that for me, haven’t had any luck as of yet. Not sure Ashland, all though ‘Someplace Special,’ lends itself to unique, defining memories.
at 3:21 pm
Wow, that photo is absolutely lovely! I think bridges are great to photograph.
at 4:35 pm
@cynthia – la llorona lived there, too!
at 4:51 pm
I did a quick shoot on the other side a couple years ago, a campaign shoot for a clothing company. All the old school homies were staring us down like we had broken into their hood.
Yes we were slightly frightened, but we just couldn’t resist the beauty of the bridge : )
at 7:36 pm
Hey Sergio, thanks for the shout out! You forgot to mention that there was never a shortage of dead animals laying around… ; }
at 7:37 pm
And yes, that place always felt like a different world to me growing up there!
at 1:56 am
Well done Sergio. Thanks for the flashback. One of my strongest memories of Texas Lane was watching the train go thru late at night. First there is the rumble then that blinding beam of light that cut through the pitch black. Boy was it ever pitch black at night. Even though the road is still there there will never be another Texas Lane.
at 9:01 am
i always thought it was awesome how the light on the train would go back and forth.. so from grandma’s house, you could see the train off in the distance.. with the light swinging back and forth .. like a cylon.
at 7:48 pm
The light shining back and forth like a Cylon? That’s a very sinister connotation added to the train (depending on which interpretation of the show) , but then again it killed who knows how many pets?
at 11:29 am
that is one fine-looking photograph. nice!
at 12:57 pm
Fantastic memories Sergio. I have places like these in my childhood but the reasons are, perhaps, a bit different. Never the less they are special places and memories that have made us the people we are today.
at 7:37 pm
great photo and the story was superb. Nice you can blend the two together!
Peace