Goodbye, Silver Ave.

In Albuquerque, New Mexico, Silver Avenue holds most of my stories. Twice I've left this town-they-call-a-city - with distinct and thought-provoking reasons behind each departure - and when I returned, I usually lived on this street. Its grassy meridians with shade trees shield against the high-elevation desert sun, and dog-walkers and loungers are drawn in. The Silver Hill neighborhood is sandwiched between the University of New Mexico and Central New Mexico Community College, so backpack-laden students regularly stroll by.

The section of Silver I've perpetually resided on, though, is near University Blvd, with street races as loud as hell, the cars' straight-through exhaust systems sending blasts of sound through the neighborhood during the dark hours. And as with any other place, there's also crime.

Still, Silver Ave. has been my heart-home, off and on, across 16 years. And as an amateur digital photographer, I often tried to capture its vibe and my life therein through a lens. In 2008, a little Pentax was the first camera to do so, with other instruments coming and going over the years, all the way up to the camera inside my current device, a seemingly elderly iPhone 8 Plus.

In two weeks, off I go, leaving New Mexico for the third time in my life. This post is a tribute, a gallery of memories, another farewell to Silver Ave. I hope you enjoy.

2008 - 2010

Pentax Optio A10; 8 megapixels (MP)