166 | Working Artist

1979 | Montezuma Grade, Anza-Borrego Desert State Park

1979 | Montezuma Grade, Anza-Borrego Desert State Park

For the first time ever in our 32-year association, my grandfather and I had an opportunity to head out by ourselves. He hopped on a plane to San Diego and we headed straight for the desert.

He was still strong in his long career as a watercolorist, and we found some fine and compatible places to work. We were traveling very light, and here he set out his jury-rig in a nice work spot. After soaking his paper, he began moving some mountains around to his liking.

As a photographer, my control of nature consisted of moving my camera, so I looked for vantage points, scrambling several miles across and up and down this slope. When I returned to ‘camp’ my grandfather had done his work, and there I found my picture – right where I had started out.

165 | Over the Line

1977 | Fiesta Island, San Diego

1977 | Fiesta Island, San Diego

The annual Over-the-Line is a “so very San Diego” event, a beach modified-softball tournament. Since this picture in 1977, I have been back a few times, but it seems tamer and less dense, or perhaps I have aged a bit, superannuating. What I do remember about this particular day is that it was hot, breezy, and dusty, and the only way I could clean my lens was with my shirttail – the lens survived, but all the pictures show some flare.

▷ The quote comes from Neil Morgan, the beloved columnist for the San Diego Union, via his friend and my mentor, Robert Tschirgi, a unique neurophysiologist at the UCSD school of Medicine.