A Ride In A Hot Air Balloon

"Sometimes you get no second chance 

and it's best to accept the gifts the world offers you."

-- Paolo Coelho, Eleven Minutes

Hot air balloon shadow 8-29-14

"Considering the way the world is,

one happy day is almost a miracle."

-- Paolo Coelho, Eleven Minutes

Once-in-a-lifetime experiences come along, well, you know.

So when one does come along, it's best to grab it before it gets away.

Mine almost did.

Hot air balloon burner releasing flame 8-29-14

Over a year ago, my husband gave me a gift -- a certificate to ride in a hot air balloon. The certificate was good for a year. And then the year was gone and it expired. For a number of reasons -- weather, schedules, my fucked-up mental and emotional health at the time -- we kept putting it off. 

We put it off until it was too late. 

We put it off so long that our once-in-a-lifetime opportunity was lost.

Except for the fact that I am married to a tenacious man who petitioned the company for a re-do, which they granted, and yesterday, once-in-a-lifetime rolled around again.

This time we grabbed it by the balls. Well, by the balloon.

I was skeptical at first, when they said they were going to cram six people (some of whom obviously hadn't missed many meals) into a wicker basket the size of a bathtub, and then float it 1,500 feet above the ground for an hour. 

But as soon as we lifted off, my skepticism melted away with each hot, flaming blast from the propane burners.

Which, by the way, is loud as fuck.

I had this idealistic notion that ballooning would be a quiet, peaceful, sort of silent experience.

Oh, no.

It was like being trapped right next to the mouth of a fire-breathing dragon. A really loud fire-breathing dragon.

I could feel the heat like a blast furnace on the back of my neck and the top of my head as the dragon inhaled and exhaled, so loudly it drowned out all conversation -- so loudly that it spooked horses and deer and cows in the fields and pastures hundreds of feet below us.

And the breathing goes on the whole time. It has to. Because the breathing is what keeps the balloon and its little basket full of people filled with hot air so that the balloon doesn't crash to the ground.

But in between breaths, being lofted up above the earth with a basketful of oddball strangers felt something like a lovely little miracle. 

The view was unbelievable. The day was perfect.

My heart and spirit expanded with the warm, full feeling of lucky.

And then we landed.

The flight had lulled me into a reverie and I figured when we touched down, we'd lightly bump up and down and then come gently to rest on terra firma.

Oh, no. Again.

Hot air balloons 8-29-14

There are no seat belts in a hot air balloon. No helmets. Nothing to hold onto but the edges of the basket. And each other.

There is also no landing gear.

The balloon just lands when the bottom of the basket hits the ground. And it hits hard.

When it did, the basket tipped forward almost 90 degrees and I seriously thought we were all going to spill out. I fell onto the old lady sitting in front of me, who disregarded our pre-flight instructions and stuck her hands outside the basket to break our fall, as if she could stop a thousand pound moving object.

I thought she was a goner.

My husband grabbed the back of the old lady's jacket and I wrapped my arms around her waist as we bounced a second time. And a third. 

One of the very heavy propane tanks tipped up and landed back down on my toe. It hurt.

We skidded and bumped along as the ground crew -- a skinny 60-ish looking guy and a very small 50-ish looking woman -- tried to grab hold and slow our momentum.

Eventually we stopped. 

I felt a little shaken. And a lot relieved. 

Which, I think, is the real reason behind drinking champagne at the end of a balloon ride. 

The pilot spewed some mumbo jumbo about the history of ballooning and the reasons behind the cork-popping post-flight tradition.

Yada yada.

I didn't drink mine to salute history or tradition. I downed it to settle my nerves.

But seriously, I also toasted the fact that I'd just experienced something extremely special and rare and unforgettable.

I felt grateful and lucky that once-in-a-lifetime didn't forget about me, but came knocking a second time.

And that this time I answered before it slipped away into the blue.

A Free Air Show

"True hope is swift, and flies with swallow's wings."

-- William Shakespeare

Tree Swallow 4-22-14

"The swallow is come!

The swallow is come!

O, fair are the seasons, and light

Are the days that she brings, 

With her dusky wings,

And her bosom snowy white!"

-- Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Hyperion

Pair of Tree Swallows 4-22-14

"Off we go into the wild blue yonder,

Climbing high into the sun."

-- "Off We Go Into The Wild Blue Yonder"

(The Air Force Song)

Tree Swallow at rest on wire 4-22-14

Tree Swallows are like the tiny jet fighters of the bird world, Nature's Air Force -- deft little aerialists with streamlined, pointed, steely blue wings on which they perform quicker than quick acrobatic twists and turns.

There are a couple of nearby marshes and meadows that I like to visit in the summertime just so I can watch the Tree Swallows dip and dive and swoop and soar. It's like an air show in miniature.

To me, Tree Swallows look like they're flying just because they can, for nothing but the sheer fun and rapturous freedom of it. I know these quick, agile little fliers are up there chasing after insects. But to me, the flight of Tree Swallows looks nothing like work.

It looks like pure joy.

It seems like they never come in for a landing. But they do. They will stop flying from time to time. But be quick about it if you want to snap a picture, because they don't rest long before launching back out into the wild blue yonder.

And they have no qualms about buzz-bombing you if you get too close to their homes.

Note to self: buy a longer telephoto lens.

I spent quite a while yesterday afternoon watching the Tree Swallows perform their stunts and maneuvers in a private aerial show just for me, their audience of one.

(It's a good thing they perform for free, because I left my wallet at home.)

If you want to learn about these amazing little birds, click here!