The Philosopher's Dove (with Addendum)

 

The enigmatic glyph of a pigeon poised in flight, Albuquerque - one frame of a cellphone video - June 2, 2025, DS.

A pigeon is considered feral when one member of its line has, at some point in time, severed ties with (human-produced) domesticity.

Pigeons - rock doves - are free agents in human cities. Huddling together in small groups high up in the rafters of old, abandoned buildings, they are quiet, gentle, trusting creatures. We know them mostly by the snapping sound of their beating wings.

Time-stamped: August 1, 2025, 6:22 pm.

They are essentially travelers, vagrants and refugees and are generally despised (and exterminated) by property owners. After all, pigeons do not pay rent, nor do they sing for their supper. They search for seeds that have fallen on the pavement, trodden by human feet, or flattened beneath the wheels of a driverless car.

Time-stamped: July 31, 2025, 1:19 pm.

But, the sky glorifies those in flight and, in flight, the rock dove is as fleet as any bird.

Always, the sky, whispering in silent, Sylphid syllables, welcomes its feathered acolytes back into its cool, incorruptible embrace.

(Continued below the break...)

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...)