Bexar County Line

The original impetus for the site, www.BexarCountyLine.com, was simple, and it predated Instagram, Tender, Snap Book, and Face Chat. The deal was a cheap camera, under a $100 per camera, I used to call them “boat” cameras, but they were much more, as I wouldn’t be afraid to carry — and use — a cheap camera, so I started with a cheap camera, and the images weren’t supposed to be “Photoshopped,” and this was before that was a verb.

BexarCountyLine.com

Cheap camera, minimal, if any, manipulation, then “spit and post,” in other words, a hasty, whenever image tossed up on the site’s motor.

WordPress had just revved to version 2, and that allowed enough of a platform — motor — so to speak — to provide a solid foundation.

San Antonio — Bexar County — is a seriously strange mix. Different brew. Arguably one of the older townships in North America, some remnants go back close to 4,000 years. The recent material — always loved the sheriff cars — Bexar County 1731, or really, 1718. Three hundred years old, now. Sheriff’s office claims legal office, historical legal office, continuously since 1731.

The first version, I would export pictures that were 500 pixels wide, an iteration that was picked up and repeated elsewhere on the web, as a thematic element. Still, the idea was nothing too extensive, nothing too expansive, and for that matter, nothing that required too much bandwidth (mental, physical, and metaphysical bandwidth).

There’s been some kind of local government since it was incorporated in 1718, as Bexar (municipality). The images, what originally caught my attention was the confluence of cultures, Colonial Spanish, true Mexican, Native (indigenous), Anglo settlers, and the original colony of Canary Islanders, plus, Czech, German, Prussian, French.

Then, too, the six flags of Texas, all of them?

Bexar County under 9 governments — as seen — here.

The governments come and go, the land stays the same. Gentle hills, springs, wandering streams, and history, etched in the fabric of its face, plus? The way cultures just all coalesce in one spot.

I’ve met natives who never ventured more than three miles from where they were born, and I’ve met people from all over the world, some of whom stay on to add to the essence of the town.

My old adage is that San Antonio is way weirder than Austin, but with San Antonio’s attitude? Who cares?

The Alamo, can’t forget the Alamo. Woman Hollering Creek.

Bexar County Line

Some of my first career options were in San Antonio, then I rolled back down, after a few decades of travel, making it a regular stop, then San Antonio girls, and the rest is history.

The site’s “badge” was an older image — cheap fishing camera per the original guidelines — snapped on a return from some coastal fishing trip.

Over the years, and as phone cameras improved, anymore, the images are just resized from a phone image. Sometimes, not even touched, just uploaded directly.

Started as a whim, a lark, an idea, and started when I was part of various online communities that helped each other.

Bexar County Line

San Antonio is a rich, vibrant canvas, a backdrop for political intrigue, and the confluence of cultures. After living in Austin for so long, the diverse and yet essentially gentle cultures of San Antonio were a warm embrace. Proud if its heritage, yet humble enough not to care, the site was, and still is, my own journey through what I see, and manage to grab a picture.

The mechanics of it are simple, my own URL and site, simple WordPress motor, and most frequently, the images are not “high resolution;” although, these days, with the ever-present march of technology, even camera-phones are “that good,” which suggests, yes, the higher-res stuff makes it there, some days.

All depends.

The graphics look a little dated, now, and I am loathe to expend any energy to make new ones. The site itself is kept fresh, and there’s a current motor under the hood.

The techniques have shifted, but the idea is still pretty much the same, “Spit and post” is the old term for the technique, and I’ll stick with that, spit out an image, then run it up. There’s no set of rules, other than, pretty much, it’s been going on for over ten years now. I endeavor to make sure there is an image a day, and the basic rule is “from the confines of the Bexar County Line” with no emendation, explanation, or similar verbiage.

I am a writer, so as an experiment in a form that is not verbal, no words, not typing? Been an excellent adjunct.