hot air

I woke this morning to the unmistakable sound of a hot air balloon nearby. I love being woken up this way, and will always quickly and eagerly run out to see it.

The boys were already up and playing downstairs. I came bounding down the stairs and yelled at the boys to quickly come with me..... "c'mon... there is a hot air balloon right over the lake... hurry!" they hesitated. I implored "quick!"... they came. the three of us, barefoot, scampering down the road. The balloon was low over the lake, maybe only 30 feet from the water. We watched from a neighbors driveway. They had just gotten out of bed too.

It is always a wondrous sight to me, exhilarating somehow. No matter how many times I get the opportunity to see one up close, it still is filled with excitement to me. I think I have passed that on to my boys, although they don't have so many experiences seeing it, as I did as a child. Growing up, our house was on a well worn path. We seemed to be where balloons headed after taking off miles away. Many of us in the neighborhood, would run out, through backyards, and meet to help them land, often in Carol Anderson's backyard. She had a great landing spot, and the balloonists all knew it. If they missed her yard, they could hit the next strip of land at HillStead Museum. What good morning memories....

Glad if we are on some new flight pattern! I loved it! We did think they were going to end up in the lake, but they were able to keep going for quite a bit longer and off they went.