Mah deadlines was met, so Uncle and me high-tailed it up the road to South Caroliny fer a family festivity--
ya'll, I have so much to share--hoo! Blog fodder fer a few weeks! Stay tuned...
An' this heah is the first one: Hot Air Balloonin'!
Nuthin' more childhood magical than to drive along the road and see these elephantine bubbles float up over the tree line!
One of mah sisters is a balloon groupie. When the balloon brigades show up in her town, she dances aroun' like a little kid on Christmas morn. Sometimes she hep's crew. Ain't sure, but I think it means set up, take down, ride in ground chasin' vehicle and yell into the walkie-talkies, cal -koo-late on the GPS--all that stuff.
Well, nuthin' would do but she had to go "up up and away" and up she done went! (Thanky to her hubby who arranged fer her Birthday to begin wif' a sky-ride.)
So we head out to the edge of town and thar' was a colorful parade of Gulliver's biggest eggs! Cain't say fer sure, but seemed at least a hunnert (100) ballooners turned out fer the festival. They's all racin' around the county tryin' to find the best launch spot--
pull in a dirt lane only to find some fella beat ya' to the spot, roar out again an' consult the GPS, some wind info--ain't tellin' what all they's trackin' til they finally choose they spot...then,
We watched folks git set up .....blowin' hot air in this thang is man and girl work...
Ain't easy, folks--this heah was a competition and the game means ya have to be airborne by 8 am or youse disqualified. It's is a frantic set up!
Somehow, this whole rig is unloaded, unfurled and airborne in about 10 minutes!
Keep an eye on the pink and turquoisey-green one what mah sis' is ridin' (Classier than a broomstick, I will say! jes' kiddin'!)
When dozens of these beauties start polka-dottin' the sky, it is pure fantasy!!
We bumped and banged over ditch and dale, racin' along below...a merry chase we made fer nigh on 20 minutes...But ya'll...oh dear...I looked out the window of the vehicle, off to mah right in the distance, and seen what I thought was a giant kite tail fallin' toward earth..but Uncle say, "Oh NO! Oh my God! That's a collapsed balloon thas' fallin'!!
It whirled through air gyratin' and spinnin' its colors like a top..for an eternity. We raced on, found to a place to pull off to the side and check wif' others--"
Anybody heard any chatter on the radios? Has ya'll seen a balloon fall? "
Naw, folks said, them balloons is safe and doan fall...an' then we heard the sirens...mah heart was heavy.
Next we heard the squawk of our own balloon's radio--they's comin' down, come pick 'em up...
Yes, a balloon had fallen, the competition was canceled.
We watched sis' balloon come safely to sweet earth in a new mown field....
While we packed up the balloon, radios began to pop and crackle with the news that the fella had survived!! Caught in the arms of an oak tree, he was bein' airlifted to the hospital...
Sis went off to a meetin' about what had happened. Never knowed the air safety transportation folks monitored balloon stuff...but some official like thang went down all afternoon...
and the good news is that the balloonist, sucked into a wind shear at 6-7000 feet, was reported to be well enough to flirt wif the nurses....heh heh... A fractured pelvis and a jagged broken spear of tree trunk through his thigh never stopped a good ole boy.
The story is passin' 'round that a sweet ole lady sittin' on her porch lookin up at the lovely balloony mornin' seen the horror fallin' toward her...she buried her face in her hands and said, "Lord! Youse gotta ketch dat boy 'cause how's I gonna live if I see this thang what's happenin'??"
