Up, Up and Away

In this part of the country where I live, hot air balloons are a common sight during the many months of nice weather.  The other morning on my way to work, I was very surprised to see one shrouded in fog.  It seemed to me that the people in the gondola weren't quite getting their money's worth.  It was very chilly and I'm sure they weren't getting much of an aerial view.

These storybook conveyances of flight have always fascinated me.  Before I moved here, the only hot air balloon I was familiar with was the first one out of OZ that Dorothy missed.  Imagine my delight when I began to see these beautiful inverted teardrops peppered throughout the sky.  I used to be so mesmerized by them that I had difficulty keeping my eyes on the road.

These balloons are aloft only in the early morning hours when the air is relatively calm.  My husband who was fully aware of my love affair with these things gave me a gift certificate for a balloon ride many Christmases ago.  I had an entire year to decide what day I wanted to go.  When the day neared that I had chosen for my ride, my mother impulsively decided she would accompany me.  Great!  I was thrilled to have her company on this great adventure.

This was an adventure for me, too.  I'm a very cautious person by nature, not at all known for great acts of derring-do.  However, I thought nothing at all of climbing into what looked like an oversized picnic basket and sailing away, upward on nothing but hot air.  One thing I don't think people realize is the terrific noise of the flame that has to be constantly ignited to maintain the proper amount of hot air.  It's positively deafening when one is standing right next to the pilot as I was.  Also, even though the ride lasted for an hour, it seemed more like 15 minutes.  The time just rushed by.

It was a wonderful experience and I wasn't afraid for one second.  Nowadays, when I see a balloon I can think to myself with much satisfaction--I've been in one of those.  This, from a person who won't go on carnival rides much past ferris wheels and carousels!