Ozzie Ausband

El Coyote - another look

El Coyote

Salba

Jake Reuter

Adam 12

The lady

Toby Burger

In a certain area of the ‘Badlands’, there is a small neighborhood / community that is quite unlike anything else I’ve seen. The majority of homes are little more than hovels; rundown, threadbare, patched up, cinder block & shingle boxes. Poverty & its ever-present shadow–despair–are everywhere. Rusting fences criss-cross the yards & keep the dogs at bay. It seems that everyone has a pit bull. It seems that all of those pit bulls are very very angry. I am glad the fences are there. Dilapidated cars are ubiquitous & trash is heaped at every glance. Its hard to believe that a ‘god’ exists in such a place as this. I think that most of the people living here are ‘illegals’. One can see the face of fear at every turn. Salba found this pool from an airplane around 2004. I think the people were ‘anti’ when he checked it out & they turned him away. He bided his time. He is a master at ‘recon’ & the art of the ‘long game’. He can wait decades….and has! Recently, fate turned her face our way & we welcomed her sweet glance. The little lady was empty…& abandoned. In the hot winds of July, we went there. We swept off her blistered surface & cleaned her face. She shone. We rode & all was well. Chaos & abandon. All the cards were held in the right hands. Then, she was gone. A new tenant. A new fence. Padlocks. Large angry dogs seething with hostility. El Coyote was great while she was ours. Thanks to Peter King, Brandon Wong, & MRZ for the images. Skate-Ozzie

Peter King