Up, Up and Away

I'm trying to find my way through this angel mom, empty nester thing, and keep the romance alive with my mountain man.  All need attention, and a little creativity doesn’t hurt either.

Last November, as I was scanning Groupon for anniversary gift ideas, I jumped on board the hot air balloon adventure and purchased a trip for two, placed the photo in the anniversary card to Brad, patting myself on the back thinkin’ I was pretty darn creative and thoughtful.

Brad’s response…He was a happy boy!

Winter came and went, and then it was time for our balloon adventure, so we jumped in the car for our 2 hour drive through God’s Country, aka The Shenandoah Valley! 

We were a bit hungry on the way, so we stopped for some great pizza in a college town dive. Wow, I was so shocked to realize I recognized most of the songs playing. That’s how you can tell  how cool you are when you know the music of a college town. (I can hear my daughters rolling their eyes saying “whatever you want to believe, Mom”).

Soon, we were sitting behind two jacked-up pickup trucks that sped away and left us in their black exhaust fumes at each traffic light.  Pretty sure they weren’t concerned about their gas mileage, and when the smoke cleared, we found ourselves at the high school field where our valiant captain and his colorful balloon awaited. 

Filling up the Balloon

 The sky was glorious, but winds were gusting a bit, so we weren’t sure if it would happen or not.  The balloon began to fill, and we jumped into the basket eagerly anticipating our ascent when, KERPLUMP….the basket was blown to its side;  I was not on the best side of the basket as I found myself lying on the ground looking directly up at my 275 lb. mountain man who was bracing himself above me so as not to crush every bone in my body.

Fortunately, the pilot’s twin brother rushed to our aid, right-sided the basket, and we exited the basket to wait out the wind.

When it looked like it might not happen due to wind, I admit I sent a prayer to God asking him to take away the wind.  I knew it wouldn’t have importance over other prayers for strength in hard times, feed my children or the “thy will be done” prayers, but we know God also loves to show us amazing things, so it was worth a prayer!

In this case, He stopped the wind; we jumped in the basket and ascended into the most gorgeous sunset that had us in awe of His wonder.  The quilt of farmers’ fields set against an orange and pink sky setting behind the Blue Mountains.

We were flying low enough to make out people and animals below us.  The horses weren’t too keen on us…apparently, the hot air heater scared them, but the cows sure were curious.  The herd below stopped grazing, came together like synchronized swimmers as they turned and followed us the entire pasture and lined up against the fence to watch us.

Synchronized Cow Racing

Our time with the birds was coming to an end and we began to search for a clear field that hadn't laid manure yet.

God's color palette

Finally, we found the perfect field as our pilot brought us in for our landing.  The basket jumped a few times before falling to its side.  You  guessed it!  I was on the bottom and that big mountain man was on top trying to not to crush me again. 

This time, the twin brother was enroute and not yet on sight, so we had to improvise. When the pilot said “go ahead and pull yourself out”, I grabbed the sides of the basket and quickly pulled myself out.  I heard the “sighs/gasps” of the other passengers, but didn’t know why until I was on my feet.

I SET THE BALLOON ON FIRE!

Burnt and crunchy on the right side

Apparently, in all the confusion of the landing, the pilot forgot to turn off the propane, and as I pulled myself out, my head hit the trigger shooting flames into the deflating side of the balloon.

A few seconds later, the pilot jumped out and stamped out the embers.  I was absolutely mortified!  The burns on the balloon were pretty obvious, but the pilot assured me it was an easy fix…he knew a guy.

Soon, the Calvary rolled in on horseback, tractor, trucks and bikes.  30 Mennonite families saw where we landed and came over to see the balloon.  They were so kind and gracious, though they did smile a bit when they heard about my fire incident.  When the crew arrived to retrieve the balloon and passengers, the local men helped the crew return the crackly balloon and it’s basket into the trailer, said their goodbyes and we all jumped into the truck and returned to the high school for a toast of thanks!  We survived!

Brad could see my guilt from my clumsiness showing itself once again, and took me to a local custard stand to bury myself in custard.

That did it!  I was cured!

As we rode home, I couldn’t help but feel happy. 

Happy the soul that has been awed by a view of God’s majesty.

~ A. W. Pink

HUGS!
Sherri