The Where I Live series aims to showcase our diverse city and region by spotlighting its many vibrant neighborhoods. Each week a local resident invites us over and lets us in on what makes their neighborhood special. Have we been to your neighborhood yet? Get in touch to share your story. If your story is selected and published, you will receive a $250 stipend.

I grew up in a smallish house in somewhat of a cookie cutter neighborhood outside of Miami. As a kid, my husband lived a few miles away in a modest-sized home, too, with no yard — both places so different from where we fortunately ended up near San Antonio.

When nighttime fell, you almost couldn’t tell. The light pollution in South Florida kept the sky lit, but here in our neck of the woods (which has lots of woods), in a neighborhood called Scenic Oaks, we can see more stars than we can count. Deer are everywhere, which we enjoy — but we get a little scared of the coyotes, wild hogs, snakes, porcupines and skunks (although the babies are cute).

Painted buntings that grace us with their rare beauty once in a while are a real treat. Their distinct red, yellow and blue feathers are vibrant and the constant symphony of bird calls has me continually opening the Merlin app to discover what creature is singing so cheerfully and boldly.

Erin and her husband Gary pose for a portrait with their children Tony, Evelina, and Ricky, as well as their dogs Brownie and Diva, at their home in Scenic Oaks. Credit: Clint Datchuk for the San Antonio Report

We live on almost 2.5 acres of land. Tall, shady trees fill our backyard that borders a usually dry creek. It’s quiet, serene and homey. When we look out our windows, it’s “giving” national park vibes, as our kids might say. 

Cutting the grass however takes about two days to accomplish because there’s an abundance of it. Whenever a tree falls, that’s mega work to get it chopped up into logs and cleaned up — but the six of us work together to get it done. Overall, there are certainly more positives than negatives.

We have plenty of room for our 13-year-old daughter to ride her go-kart with her friends, our youngest son who is 15, enjoys zipping up and down our long concrete driveway on his bicycle and we have plenty of room for our oldest two kids to park their cars. 

As a family of six, having space is a luxury we don’t take for granted. We also know the days of them all living here under one roof are numbered. Our oldest kid is about to move to Boston in a few weeks, so we’re savoring the moments he tickles the ivories as the afternoons turn to night. Sometimes when I’m approaching the house, walking by the colorful array of lantana flowers in our front yard, I can hear him playing the piano and it’s the most satisfying situation to be in: home with beautiful music filling my mind in a peaceful setting as I open the front door to the people I adore.

The greatest bonus about living here is my parents live just 11 steps away in a 2-bedroom/2-bath casita alongside our huge double 2-car garage. They made so many trips after they retired from Miami to San Antonio that they finally decided they might as well move here when I was pregnant with our third kid in 2009 — so they could be closer to their grandkids.

Initially we bought two houses side-by-side in a neighborhood a few miles away, but after we welcomed our fourth baby — we quickly realized we outgrew our house and looked into other options that would allow us to live together, but have privacy too. Having my Mom and Dad so close is the best gift this neighborhood has given us.

The Rodriguez family tends to the yard around the casita where Erin’s parents stay at their Scenic Oaks home. Credit: Clint Datchuk for the San Antonio Report

During the pandemic when we were both working from home, my husband and I took walks around our sprawling yard to get some fresh air and truly enjoy the scenery. Each year he looks forward to seeing if the wildflower and bluebonnet seeds he spread the previous fall will yield any blooms in our meadow (or field). It’s large enough to build a tennis court, but he prefers that it stays the way it is — even though it’s a chore to cut the grass.

Our three dogs, Diva, Cookie and Brownie also love to roll around there, chase each other and play. At different points in the spring, he has let the wildflowers and grass grow tall — and mowed a path for our kids to ride their bikes through. In our previous home a few miles away, our backyard was so small that we couldn’t fit a trampoline in it. This massive yard could fit dozens of them. It’s a yard where our two youngest kids really bonded five years ago while jumping together on our trampoline — taking turns doing flips, giggling and having lots of fun in between classes when school went virtual that year.

One of our daughter’s favorite activities is to host a “free cookies” stand (similar to a lemonade stand). Several years ago it started with her selling Girl Scout cookies, then it progressed to her baking her own chocolate chip cookies and setting everything up to surprise our neighbors. People are extremely generous and often stop by to say hi to her. Some leave her donations — and she has saved up her “tips” to buy $333 worth of pet supplies from SNIPSA’s Amazon wishlist.

Erin’s children Evelina and Ricky converse with their neighbor James Jones as he stops by to visit Evelina’s cookie stand outside their Scenic Oaks home. Credit: Clint Datchuk for the San Antonio Report

Our neighbors never cease to amaze us. They’re always supportive and it’s contagious and genuine. Around the corner, another family sells salsa and tomatoes from their garden. In our neighborhood Facebook group, people are constantly giving away items out of the goodness of their hearts. Our hood feels special, niche and friendly. Neighbors genuinely lookout for each other.

Speaking of that, our three fur babies who roam our meadow along Hazy Hollow Drive get a lot of love too. We have an electric dog fence so initially others didn’t realize that and acted worried until they realized the situation.

Not too long ago, one of them messaged us saying she had missed seeing our dogs so much. She was wondering if they were okay — but figured the intense summer heat might be keeping them inside. She was right, however, it felt nice that she reached out to share that she cared. There’s a lot of that here, but frankly and thankfully — that’s how it is across San Antonio.