Standing in line last year to board the plane leaving from Ft. Lauderdale to Albuquerque, I was sandwiched and invisible between two groups of passengers.   Both groups were noisy and brimming with excitement and laughter.  All were headed  for the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta. Looking out the plane’s window as we approached Albuquerque I could see some  balloons suspended in the air.  During seven years of living in Santa Fe (only 1 hour, 15 minutes  north of Albuquerque) I had never been to see the balloons or what the largest international balloon fest was all about.

One year later we woke at 4:30 and not long after 6:00 am found ourselves in the middle of 78 acres of balloon land.  The balloons were in various stages of being lifeless and pancaked out on the ground.  Or they were half blown up and still on their backs like gigantic, patterned  jelly fish.  The best, though, were fully blown and lighting up like enormous and colorful light bulbs each time they were injected with hot air flames.

The sun was yet to come up when we got there,  so for more than a half hour I hung on to the dark and the magic of the balloons momentarily lighting up around me. There is no separation of the balloons and the hundreds of balloonists and enthusiasts that come from all parts.   I was walking around in the midst of it all, waiting until 7:00 am for what was called and would be the ascension.  Like the passengers who boarded the same plane with me a year before I, too, was caught up in pure excitement.

 

GETTING IT TOGETHER:

 

 

The Balloon Fiesta takes place over the course of a whole week.  There is much more that goes on that I could ever include here.  We came for the 7:00 a.m. “Flight of the Nations Mass Ascension” (yes, that’s the name).  I would also love to be there for the evening After Glow.  After the sun goes down, the balloons are all lit in the dark ….

So you want to go on a balloon ride?  You can find all the information about the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta here:  ttp://www.balloonfiesta.com

 

THE ASCENSION:

 

 

 

 

 

THE WONDER OF THE BALLOONS IN THE AIR:

 

 

THE MAGIC:

Most of all it was magic.  It was as if I woke up on Christmas morning, opened my eyes, and found that all the ornaments on the tree had detached their beauty from the tree to suspend themselves motionless above my bed.  Just for me.