On my way home, I was taking a photo at steel bridge and this guy, Robert from East LA came up to me and asked if I was a photographer.
We talked about photography, and he showed me his artwork, then Bo Bronco came up to us with a really nice rock he found while rock hunting under the bridge.
He showed us his collection, then walked me through his spiritual journey through various religions. He’d been through paganism, Buddhism, Christianity, and now he’s settled on Norse.
His mom is a pagan witch that blessed a crystal he keeps in his pocket to placate his autism behaviors.
It sounded like he’d lived a hard life. His brother got shot in the head three times by a 45 magnum, before the killer shot himself. It happened a few years back. He also got hooked on meth but has been off it for a year.
As it was getting time to leave, Robert was playing with Bo’s rock collection, admitting he was high. Bo decided it was time to go back under the bridge and get high.
He offered a very nice rock he found to Robert, who politely declined, and so he gave it to me as a parting gift. He let me snag a photo.
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Originally published on austingil.com.