Nothing Gold Can Stay
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A double rainbow frames the Sandias over Albuquerque—apparently Seattle doesn’t have a monopoly on mist
If you’ve followed New Mexicology’s weekly posts over the last few months (or just peeked at the “about” page), you know this blog has been the personal project of a writer who recently relocated to the state from the Pacific Northwest.
The move took some adjusting, both deep in my bones and on the tips of my taste buds. But the more I learned about New Mexico, especially through writing these two dozen mini-essays about its scientific side, the more I felt at home here. I knew I’d officially transitioned from Seattleite to Burqueña the night I passed tumbleweeds as I picked up tacos for a picnic in the Sandia foothills, where our dog chased lizards and got a few cactus spines in his fur.
Of course, just when I thought I’d acclimated to desert living, the Land of Enchantment surprised me yet again. Recently, after a typical hot, dry day, a strange wind blew in over the mountains. Suddenly the evening windows glowed rose gold, the roof rattled with pearls of hail, the air was thick with petrichor, and lightning flickered white over the volcanic horizon. Just like that, the seasons had shifted. A startlingly bright double rainbow graced the mountains to the east like Mother Earth’s welcome banner: monsoon season is here.
Change is in the air, my friends.
Not just in the atmosphere, but in the blogosphere—New Mexicology is wrapping things up for the summer.
As long as I live here I’ll continue to learn about the Southwest. Still on my list of topics to research: the quirks of xeriscaping, chemistry of petroglyphs, and physics of the Very Large Array. Late-spring hail just joined the list, come to think of it. But six months in, I’m shifting my focus to other full-time projects, so I guess you’ll have to read up on these regional curiosities elsewhere. Happy trails, fellow New Mexicologists! And if you care to keep in touch, hop on over to my main writerly website: www.karieluidens.com
This post was brought to you by a new job and an old poem:
Nature's first green is gold
Her hardest hue to hold.
Her early leaf’s a flower;
But only so an hour.
Then leaf subsides to leaf.
So Eden sank to grief,
So dawn goes down to day.
Nothing gold can stay.
Robert Frost
