Flying High

 

    Five different flags fly from poles standing at the west end of the Plaza, the heart of what’s known as “Old Town,” here in Albuquerque.

    We spent a couple hours there today. We drove down to mail some packages at the post office substation and to enjoy a free concert sponsored by the city as part of the week-long Albuquerque International Balloon Festival. A pleasant breeze wafted through the shade of cottonwood trees as several hundred people gathered around the central gazebo and listened and danced to Lone Pinon, playing traditional Mexican music, and later an old-fashioned mariachi band.

    All around the sidewalks and shops buzzed with people. The streets echoed with the throbbing exhaust of muscle cars and tricked-out antique pickups, their owners circling the plaza multiple times -- the automotive equivalent to boys afraid to walk across the gym and ask a girl to dance in junior high.

    The five flags represent the governments that have occupied this city since its founding in 1706. Of course Native Americans lived here in the Rio Grande valley for thousands of years before that.

    Originally the flags included Spain, Mexico, The United States and the Confederacy. Albuquerque was not immune to the national discussion about flying the flag of a traitorous bunch who lost a war over their desire to continue to enslave other human beings. So, in 2015, the Stars and Bars came down, replaced by the flag of Albuquerque. True to how history has treated the native peoples, the red Zia symbol on the New Mexico flag is also a cultural misappropriation.

    Those five flags of course represent the overlapping cultures that helped make Albuquerque the great melting pot of people, customs and commerce it is today.

    Later on Friday afternoon we headed over to the International Balloon Fiesta grounds to get a good spot to watch the evening’s “Glowdeo” where hot air balloons are inflated at dusk creating a spectacle of illumination from the towers of flame inside. The theme was “special shapes,” and there are many this year. They include a cow, penguins, a giant pumpkin, Humpty Dumpty and even Yoda. As many as 100 balloons can participate, many from more than a dozen countries.

    

Unfortunately, the winds were a tad strong so only a handful actually participated. Lots of other balloonists did set up their gas burners creating a “Mad Max” vibe with the field dotted with dozens of giant orange columns of flame shooting into the night sky when pilots were prompted by announcers.

    After a trio of skydivers trailing pyrotechnics descended onto the field, the evening culminated with a spectacular fireworks show. The more than 50,000 people in attendance were delighted, even with the low balloon participation. There will be another Mass Ascension tomorrow where as many as 600 balloons can float over the city at once.

    There’s more than enough to write about in Albuquerque, at the very least even a short piece requires that you actually learn how to spell it correctly. This city has more than 600,000 residents, half as many people as the entire State of Maine. In its more than 300-year history there has been no shortage of conflict but people here have consistently found a way to make its near-constant growth and multi-cultural and racial complexity, work.

    While no one would argue there’s nothing left to do, both those flags on the Plaza, and the balloons floating overhead during the annual fiesta, testify to how far Albuquerque has come as a thriving community.

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