Cinco de Mayo - the New Mexican Skies (revised & completed May 9)

Albuquerque clouds in May - cellphone photo - 2025, DS.

(Text added May 7)

This past Monday was Cinco de Mayo - the 5th day of the fifth month in the 25th year of the 3rd millennium. You might say, due to all the 5's, it was a golden day, and, coincidentally enough, one tradition of the holiday is kind of an unintended nod to the pentagonal golden spiral.

The China poblana, the colorful costume featuring a voluminous castor (circle skirt) worn by festival dancers - like the one inset left above (found here) - are really something to see in action. The circle skirts generate spiral shapes continuously as the dancer swirls through her routine. For a regular Phi festival view the short video below the jump break.

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Albuquerque clouds in May (#2) - cellphone photo - 2025, DS.

(Text added May 9)

I guess, in keeping with the times, it isn't too weird that this post has been almost completely revised before it was even finished. But, don't worry, I have no desire to address the "times" nor the shit-storms that (too) many of us are dealing with these days. My goal is to regain a vestige of mental equilibrium again and experience tells me there's only one place to go: back to the natural world. Some of my most serene moments in New Mexico were spent photographing the Sandia mountains, and, in ways, I'm doing the same again; but my view of the mountain range has changed... and, this time I'm obsessed with the clouds.

(Continued below the jump...)

Albuquerque clouds in May (#3) - cellphone photo - 2025, DS.

There's something extraordinary about New Mexican skylines. Something so extraordinary it cannot really be captured. The clouds are amazingly complex and nuanced above the mountains. As opposed to being mere atmospheric phenomena they seem to be elements of well-choreographed celestial events that defy categorization.  Frustratingly, all of the odd cloud configurations change in a matter of seconds so one has to be on the alert for the next magical moment.

Albuquerque clouds in May (#4) - cellphone photo - 2025, DS.

The beauty of New Mexican skies is they appear to be an ongoing work of art. Human landscape artists are superfluous here. None can best the elemental artists... except maybe another Van Gogh or, perhaps, an abstract artist who might translate new information in an unexpected way. But, when I say "elemental artists" I'm not necessarily metaphorically referring to the elementary physical forces. Instead, I'm somewhat more influenced by the primitives, the storytellers, and the old artists and hermetic occultists who intuited that the 4 (or more) elements (re: Forces) of the world had intelligence relative to their kind. These were the elementals; they were also known to interact with humans and take form. But, more about them in a future post!

Albuquerque clouds in May (#5) - cellphone photo - 2025, DS.

In any case, I've felt privileged to witness this ever present art installation from my motel balcony for the past week, snapping photos whenever the magic moment arrived. The cellphone I'm presently using isn't as good as my old Samsung from earlier days and it fails to capture nuances of light, color and clarity, but, well, it and I muddle through fairly satisfactorily. In fact, we have a eureka moment every now and then.

Below is the video clip I promised you earlier. Sadly, I'm still blogging by phone and there are always unforeseeable complications.* If you are having problems viewing it, please view it at the source: this Los Muertos Crew page on Pixels. Also, try this page. (Thank you, Los Muertos Crew!)

Do watch the clip. The dancer is a master and her moves are exceptionally graceful. Moreover, I would swear that the spirals she creates with her swirling skirt are somewhere mathematically golden - that is, even if only for a split second. And, motion, in several ways is what pentagonal phi is all about.

Lastly, say what you will about Albuquerque. Every now and then, the skies above it, too, are golden.

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* In my own defense, I haven't viewed this blog on any device larger than a small cellphone in months, so, I have little idea how recent posts are translating. I also have no access to my thumb drive files from the past 3 years and this includes all the Dürer material. (Sorry for the delay!)

Lastly, there are certain things that can't be done on a cellphone... fixing some elements on the side bar for instance. Much to my dismay I've yet to replace the Post-Mac Blues blog portal, which malfunctioned weeks ago. But, for now, PMB can be accessed here.