Well, here we are in September.
Does that mean chilly weather that would prompt donning sweaters, corduroy pants and wool caps?
No, because I started out with saying September, not December - and those cold weather analogies rarely apply to South Texas winters.
No, it means I’m back on the high school football sidelines.
My legendary status as a sports photographer could fill notebooks - as long as they’re documenting strange events involving cameras and broken bones.
Not that many, I would manage to force out, but enough unusual events.
Last year, I found myself photographing Bay City High School soccer.
Following the practices of most sports photogs, I positioned myself behind the goal to get a vantage point of the oncoming team.
I’ve told this before, but it’s so unusual, it’s worth retelling.
Anyway, all of a sudden, the referee is stopping the game and telling me to move.
OK, he’s telling me to move in an Eastern European accent.
I figure it’s Eastern European, because it’s neither English or Spanish and I kind of know them.
So, he’s ordering me not move a little, but to move completely off the field.
As I enter Memorial Stadium last Friday night I spot well-known photographer Larry Bose talking to another photographer.
And, I soon learned, Bose is telling the other photographer about my Latvian, Estonian - oh, whatever - experience.
Of course, that’s tame compared to the broken arm at a San Antonio stadium during a Blackcat playoff game a couple years back.
It’s no wonder that my entire family worries about my skeletal wellbeing.
But the great thing about this year is having a new 250 mm lens.
No, it’s not only of those huge sports lens you see almost every other photographer lugging around the sideline.
Just simple, relatively light lens that’s easy to carry and takes decent photos.
I mean sharp photos - the kind where people know the sporting event I’ve covered.
I’m kidding. it all started in 1973 with my first camera, a 35mm mamiya sekor.
Not exactly a Nikon knockoff, but I learned how to avoid collisions with such a light-weight camera body.
Nah, not really.
